


YJ Batfam: Their New Sister

by W01FS0NG



Series: The Unsuspecting Ties [2]
Category: Batman Comics, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Supernatural, Young Justice (Cartoon), batfam - Fandom
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Cassandra Cain is yet to appear, Cassandra Cain will come in later chapters, Conner Kent is Superboy, Dear Evan Hansen in later chapters, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson is a Good Brother, Duke Thomas is really a minor character, F/F, F/M, Gen, Jason Todd is yer to appear, JayTim in later chapters, LGBTQ+ characters, M/M, Mention of Cadmus, Minor Stephanie x Tim in the beginning, OFC Has Powers, OFC hunts monsters, OFC is the daughter of Bruce Wayne, OFC might be an ambivert, Tim Drake is Robin, Tim Drake is a Good Brother, Young Justice people come in later chapters, dean winchester cameo, lots of fluff, lots of hurt/comfort, stephanie is spoiler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 38,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21539848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W01FS0NG/pseuds/W01FS0NG
Summary: Maia Petilos is the newest addition to the family (as in terms of the Young Justice universe). This is her story.
Relationships: Minor Tim Drake/Jason Todd - Relationship, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, minor Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake - Relationship
Series: The Unsuspecting Ties [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552336
Kudos: 11





	1. Meet the Bat family

**Author's Note:**

> takes place during season 3 of Young Justice and after.  
> Also, since in the Young Justice universe, neither Jason nor Damian have been brought in, I will leave them out for now.  
> Also-also, for the sake of this fic, let’s pretend that Conner was in on the whole meta trafficking take down they were doing.

They found out that they had a sister about two months ago. Apparently, the L.A. teen had Wayne blood in her, and her foster mom had died in the hospital. She was in there due to a car crash. Maia Petilos gave a pint of her blood to see if she was compatible with her foster mother, but alas she was not. The doctors weren’t able to save her life.

The whereabouts of her real mother? She’s dead. Maia has lost the mother figure twice over. 

Bruce dated the girl’s birth mother for a little over a year. They broke up before she found out she was pregnant with Maia.

The first day she was at the manor, Dick was nice, Tim was a little bit agitating, but nice as well (just very introverted). One could tell that Tim hasn’t slept for at least 48 hours.

She expected nothing less. They were the children of one of the richest people in the country. 

The only fear she had about being here, was that they might dig up her past. There’s nothing much in there, just the fact that she was kidnapped as a child and experimented on, which gave her powers. But don’t worry, one of her foster parents paid extra good money for there to be a power blocker/ meta dampener embedded. (It’s early meta dampening tech, it’s an implant.) So, maybe they won’t find out? Can’t be too sure though. If she doesn’t even remotely say a thing about it, then it might not be a problem. When she was kidnapped all those years ago, her mother was murdered, but she's sure that they already know that. Her new family is the kind of people who would look into why she was in a foster home and not with her mother.

Speaking of which, when Maia finally escaped them at age twelve, two social workers found her and placed her into the foster care system, where she stayed in one house until the age of seventeen, which is her age now.

Apparently, she has sisters as well. Dick told her their names are Barbara and Stephanie. (They are really just family friends, but they’re basically family.) They didn’t come around to meet her, nor did they try to get in contact with her, so she did the same to them. The seventeen-year-old thought that they could have busy lives.

All of them do, really, they have day jobs. These guys also go on patrol and do vigilante stuff. Dick also usually lives in Bludhaven, but as soon as he heard the news, he just had to come down. Same with Jason and Tim who just have apartments in Gotham.

Since she still wants to go to school, Bruce had no trouble enrolling her in the eleventh grade Gotham Academy. Tim still goes there, but Steph doesn’t.

She found the Bat Cave by accident and found them all in costume. They tried to deny it at first, but she could see right through them. Besides, most of them didn’t have voice changers.   
  


she found the lone costume intriguing but decided against asking them about it. If none of them are wearing the Robin costume, the wearer must be either missing or dead.

It was clear to them that she didn’t have an interest in crime-fighting, even though they could tell that she is decent at street fighting. Bruce told her he would still train her. Even so, she was happy to be their guy in the chair. When she was, she was referred to as agent M.

They don’t see her much, except for in the mornings and sometimes in the afternoons due to school. When she is the guy in the chair, it’s a rarity. It only happened three times in the past few weeks. Which is a shame, because she seems like an interesting gal.

Maia speaks fluent Spanish, Tagalog, Javanese, ASL, BSL, and Mandarin. None of the boys knew what Tagalog or Javanese was, which didn’t surprise her. They also thought that she was half Latina, which also didn’t surprise her. In actuality, she is half Filipina, hence the Tagalog. Their new sister doesn’t blame them though, she does look Latino. Plus it helps their first thought about her race that she speaks fluent Spanish.

Petilos was surprised to find that Bruce also spoke Tagalog. Of course, she only found out that fact when she cursed in that language in front of him. He scolded her in Tagalog.

The third week into the first month, Maia took the Advil container from the first aid kit in the Bat Cave. Alfred didn’t say anything and for a moment it seemed like no one noticed. But of course, the butler always notices. He didn’t do anything about it except getting a new bottle. He figured she must have been having period cramps.

One night, before they had all gone out on patrol, they found Petilos in the family room watching Hawaii Five-0. When they asked why she wasn’t doing her homework or getting ready for bed, she responded with she had already finished her homework for the weekend, and that she couldn’t pass up watching her favorite show. (The same goes for Supernatural.)

They didn’t ask why this particular cop show was her favorite. Maybe they’ll need to sit and watch an episode with her.

There was this one time when Bruce got off of work early. He arrived at the manor to hear someone play Chopin on the grand piano. The man spotted Dick, Alfred, and Tim watching their new family member from afar.

“She’s been playing for almost thirty minutes,” Dick informed him, leaning against the door frame. “She’s pretty good.”

* * *

  
This one time, about a month or so in, they had decided to go out as a regular family at the mall. (It was Dick’s idea, no one really objected to it so they went anyway.)

He was the one driving, and it seemed like the only one who verbally objected to his music was Tim. Red Robin silently praised his sister for being smart and bringing earbuds.

Bruce sat in the front passenger seat while Maia and Tim sat in the back seats. 

The boys had also noticed Maia preferred to listen to music rather than talk. Tim didn’t bother to ask the kind of music, and Bruce didn’t care. Contrary to Dick of course. He would ask her, and sometimes she wouldn’t respond. Tim, who sat next to her had to nudge her in order for her to respond.

The boys also noticed that her fingers on her right hand constantly tapped a beat on her knee. The consistency of the tapping changed a lot.

On of the first stores in the mall was a music store. To none of their surprise, their sister went right to a piano. Not that Tim would admit it out loud, but he really enjoys the fact that their sister is classically trained in music. Just listening to her piano had a certain calming effect on him. Dick would definitely admit to this out loud if asked. 

She only stopped when she noticed a certain cello graced the store. When she asked if she could play it, the store owner, of course, let her. Everyone in the store went from listening to her play Chopin on the piano, to her playing Bach on the cello.

When Dick asked her where she learned to play the cello, she responded, “I learned from my foster dad.”

Bruce made a mental note that he might need to get her a cello.

When they had finally moved on from the music store, Maia made a stop into another shop. The girl came out of it with an iron-on patch that said “I’m here and I’m queer.” When the girl saw the quizzical looks of her family, she told them that it was for a friend. 

_“Yeah right,”_ Tim thought to himself.

The group made their way over to the courtyard where three women were drinking what Maia presumed was a variation of a caffeinated drink.

“Oh, Dickie!” The redhead shouted as her form became straight. The lady was in a wheelchair.

“Hey Babs!” He said as he waved to her. Once the two got close enough, Grayson bent down to hug her. The other woman stood up and hugged him. They even did the same with everyone else. 

The redhead’s gaze went right to Maia. As did the other two girls’.

“Hey, I’m Barbara, this is Steph,” she said as soon as Maia was in close enough proximity. So these two were the female family friends they spoke of. The redhead looked to be about Dick’s age while the blonde looked to be as old as her or Tim.

“Hi,” their new sister said kind of shyly. “I’m Maia.” It was then that Tim realized his sister might be an ambivert. (Not an extrovert, but not an introvert). She always seemed extroverted with the guys, but with the girls, he could tell there was some introversion towards them.

It took a few minutes, but Maia finally started being social with her sisters/family friends. They’ve all been talking and laughing for a little while. 

Some of them misplaced her slight introvertedness with being distracted. She wasn’t exactly making firm eye contact with anyone, nor was she saying all that much, except for when the girls got into a discussion of things that didn’t seem all that girlish.

 _“Maybe that’s it,”_ Tim thought. _“She likes to hang out with boys more than girls But why though? It may or may not be a good idea to ask Maia about this when we get back,”_ he concludes.

That was his thought process, which actually does have truth to it. In actuality, she had had trouble making friends with other girls because of all their gossip and drama. Of which Maia doesn’t want to be a part of one bit. The boys she hung out with would never have the problems the girls were having. Furthermore, the girls would almost always talk about boys, and the boys would talk about way more interesting stuff. Plus the guys she hung out with weren’t manipulative in any way like some of the girls were. That’s always a plus.

Yet also, what had been going through Maia’s mind repeatedly was, _“Oh my god, I hate crowds. It’s a good thing that I have this power blocker in me.”_

She hates her power, and often finds herself wondering why, out of all the kids in L.A., they chose to kidnap _her_ , and make _her_ into something she doesn’t want to be.

After a few more minutes, all the girls were getting along greatly. Yet somehow, they dragged their new sister to a clothing store. 

“Why?” She had asked. “I already have enough clothes.”

“But do you have dresses?” Stephanie asked her.

Maia sighed before saying, “Some, but not ones that are really fancy or any of that.” She pauses in thought. “In fact, I would only really wear dresses _and_ makeup for an event, like a school dance, or something like that.”

“Alright, then let’s go dress shopping!” The blonde stated excitedly.

In hindsight, Maia could probably guess that either Bruce, or Dick set this entire thing up. He might have wanted his daughters to take their new sibling out dress shopping because an event is coming up soon. 

Or.

Maybe her sisters just wanted to spend some time with her?

Either way, Maia walked out of that store with three dresses in a shopping bag. Barbara got a cute skirt, and Stephanie bought shirts, a nice pair of jeans, and a cute dress.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the mall with the family. It was kind of fun, if anyone asked Maia. Aside from the crowds, she was fine.

__

When they got back, Maia went straight to her room. After she put her new dresses away in her closet, she lay on her back in the middle of her bed listening to My Chemical Romance. She noticed her older brother (Tim) by her door when Teenagers played. 

“What do you want?” She asked, not meaning for it to come out as rudely as it did. To hear him, she turned the music down by a lot.

“I have a question,” he said with his arms folded across his chest and his bdy leaning against the door frame.

“That is a statement, but shoot. What’s your question?” His sister asked, rolling onto her stomach.

“I get the feeling that you like to hang out with guys more than girls. Why is that?”

“Well,” Maia looked to the ceiling in thought. “It would probably be due to the fact that at my old school, the girls there were manipulative, way too gossipy, spread rumors that had zero truth to them, bullied me a bunch, and if they weren’t plotting, they were talking about boys.”

Tim quirked an eyebrow.

“What? It’s true. And besides, most of the guys at my school had none of that drama crap going on, and they would talk about way more interesting stuff than the opposite gender.”

“Huh,” was all he said before he almost walked away. “And My Chemical Romance? Seriously?”

“What? It’s a good band.”

“Sure.” It was then he chose to walk away.

She’s already lived here a month, and she’s gotten into a good school, found out her entire new family are vigilantes, her father is one of the richest people in the country, oh, and did she mention that she drives now? Because she does. Anyway, living in this manor doesn’t have its shorthand of interesting happenings, that’s for sure.


	2. Nightmares, Dreams and Other Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s going to be shorter

The boys had just done patrolling for the night. Dick was just about to leave and go to his apartment when he heard yelling coming from Maia’s room. Quickly, he ran to her, aggressively opening the door.

He was met with the sight of his new sister tossing and turning and shouting things like, “No!” And “Stop!” Then “Please!”

He knew then that she was having a nightmare. Carefully walking over to her, he turned on the lamp on her nightstand before nudging her awake, saying things like, “Maia, hey wake up. It’s okay, wake up.” When she did, the girl looked as if she might cry. But then her gaze hardened slightly. “Get. Off.”

With open palms he released his hold on her, showing that he meant no harm. “Whoa, hey, you looked like you were having a pretty bad nightmare, I just wanted you to wake up from it,” he defended himself.

“Thank you,” Maia said to him. “But I’m fine now. No need to worry.” She sounded gentle with her words but they had a certain undertone of hostility.

“Alright,” said her brother backing away. “If you say so.”

The next nightmare Dick pulled her out of was two weeks after that. The guys had just come back to the manor from patrolling. It must have been three in the morning. Nightwing was just walking through the halls when he heard a shrieking “Nooooo!” It was high-pitched so he guessed it Maia. Knowing that she’s having another nightmare, the dude rushes to her side and turns on the lamp.

Once he wakes her up, she doesn’t glare at him and tell him to leave. Instead, she curls up into his embrace and cries. Not really sure on what to do, he just stayed there, slightly not caring that her tears are staining his jacket.

Within a couple of seconds, Dick sees Bruce and Tim rush into the room. The golden boy mouths to them that she just had a nightmare. With that piece of information taken in, the two of them relax.

“Hey,” he said softly. 

Maia lifts herself off of her brother’s shoulder and sees the other two males in the room. She smiles sadly at them. One thing’s for sure, they didn’t like seeing their sister like this. Neither did their father. They just sat there and comforted her until she stopped crying until she calmed down. 

She’ll never tell them why she’s having nightmares. She just can’t bring herself to. Besides, she was already planning on not having them know about certain things, even though they might find out about other things down the road. There were just a few details she wanted to keep under lock and key. The details which her new family doesn’t need to know about. 

One aspect of this is a girl named Valery. The two of them share a life-changing experience and are super close. This particular nightmare tonight depicted the what-if she was killed. Maia doesn’t even want to think about that, that’s how special this person is to her. 

The fourth time she had a nightmare, she yelled out in Spanish. Tim doesn’t speak the language very well, but he knew it had something to do with death as the word Muerte was muttered once or twice. The fifth time she had a nightmare, only Dick was around to wake her. The interaction went exactly as the other ones did at this time of night. He would embrace her and she would cry. Nothing would be said. Nothing needed to be said. They just stayed like that until she stopped crying and broke the embrace. Her brothers can infer all they want about the content of her nightmares. They most likely wouldn’t have merit to them, so she’ll just shoot those theories down. Besides, having people around where she can talk about her feelings and have help sorting them out is a very new thing to her. She’s so used to just internalizing everything and acting like nothing was wrong. 

The poor child felt like she couldn’t face them, not fully, at least. She used to just bottle her emotions up to be happy for the ones around her, and not let her day be soured because of one sad thing that happened. She just couldn’t let herself wear her emotions on her sleeve. This girl could hide a thousand feelings behind the happiest of smiles.

But now, it might be okay to wear them on her sleeve, maybe. She doesn’t know yet. Maia doesn’t know her new siblings well. And maybe she could be a little more open towards them, just to be a different person than what she is around her friends back in L.A. For now, she won’t talk about her nightmares. She won’t for the next few that she has in which either Tim or Dick pull her out of.

Sometimes though, she wouldn’t fall back asleep as quickly as she would have liked. The girl would stay up for at least thirty minutes of reading. Although depending on the nightmare, she could stay up for a few hours. Yet, even then Maia gathered it took a little over ten minutes to fall asleep. But she still had to wake up at six in the morning for school. So, if she didn’t have nightmares, she would get about seven hours of sleep. If she did, it would probably be anywhere between five and four hours of sleep, which isn’t all that bad. Unless of course, it was a really bad nightmare, which meant three hours of sleep.

Through all the bad dreams she’s had though, she’s had some weird ones. At breakfast one day, she asked Tim, “What does Y-E-S spell?”

Timbo looked up from his plate of eggs and squinted his eyes slightly, wondering where this was going. “Yes,” he answered correctly.

“Okay good. Now, what does E-Y-E-S spell?”

He had to think about this for a minute. “Eyes,” the man answered correctly.

Maia gave out a sigh of relief. When Tim asked her why she would ask this, the girl proceed to tell him, “I had this dream where you came home drunk.” It was at this point when Bruce walked into the kitchen. 

“I noted this fact out loud to you,” Maia replied not caring that their father had entered. “And you replied, ‘I am not fucking drunk,” she said in a slurred voice. “I then told you to tell the time, and you turned to the grandfather clock, pointed at it, and said the same thing.” She then paused to take a bite out of her toast.

“Okay,” said Tim in a sort of questioning voice. “Where does the E-Y-E-S thing come in then?”

“I then asked you what y-e-s spelled, and you thankfully said yes. But when I asked you what e-y-e-s spelled,” she giggled. “You said, E-yes.”

Bruce didn’t even Bother to ask what they were talking about. He just grabbed a plate of food and sat down to eat. Although, the man figured that must have happened in a dream she had last night.

They even noticed that she was open about sharing her dreams, but not her nightmares. Which they were fine with, she doesn’t need to share what she doesn’t want to. Regardless, they don’t think it will hurt her if she opens up about them.

Something’s been bothering Dick about Maia, however, and it’s not because of her nightmares. He remembers seeing her name in something before. His questions were answered when he looked into the police records of L.A.

The files read:

_The photo of a young girl with pale olive skin, brown eyes, and brown hair shown on the top left corner of one of the many sheets of paper stapled to a telephone pole. The details read:_

_Name: Valery Alea Cerone_

_Missing since: July 16, 2008_

_Missing From: North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California_

_Sex: Female_

_Age when missing: 6_

_Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic_

_Hair color: Brown_

_Eye color: Brown_

_Skin color: Light olive_

_Weight: 70.5 lbs._

_Date of Birth: November 9, 2002_

_She was abducted from her home after coming home from school, a building not far from her apartment complex. Her mother and father were killed. She was last seen with a purple backpack._

The photo of a different girl with long wavy black hair, deep dark brown eyes, and dark olive skin showed on the top left corner of another sheet of paper stapled to another telephone pole.

_Name: Maia Lola Sofia Petilos_

_Missing since: October 9, 2008_

_Missing from: Encino, Los Angeles, California_

_Sex: Female_

_Age when missing: 7_

_Race/Ethnicity: Filipino_

_Hair color: Black_

_Eye color: Dark brown_

_Skin color: dark olive_

_Weight: 69.8 lbs_

_Date of Birth: September 7, 2002_

_She was abducted from her home. The mother’s been killed. She was last seen wearing a light blue sweatshirt._

_Five years later:_

_Foster care files:_

_The photo of a twelve-year-old girl with light olive skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. The file states:_

_Name: Valery Cerone_

_Age: 12_

_Sex: Female_

_Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic_

_Hair color: Brown_

_Eye color: Brown_

_Skin tone: light Olive_

_And,_

The photo of another twelve-year-old girl with dark olive skin, brown eyes, and black hair. Her file states:

Name: Maia Lola Sofia Petilos

_Age: 12_

_Sex: Female_

_Race/Ethnicity: Filipino_

_Hair color: Black_

_Eye color: Dark Brown_

_Skin tone: dark olive_

_Notes: Both girls have been identified as two girls who went missing from their homes in 2008. Whoever was in the house with them was killed. The Latina, Valery might have what is known as the metagene, as she has two black wings on her back. DNA results from that show that the wings are of a Peregrine Falcon in structure and a Raven’s in color. The other girl, Maia exhibits no ability or extra appendages._

_The two of them were found together on the porch of a social worker named Liam Hans. They will not talk about what happened to them, nor do they give any sort of hints._

_They refuse to be separated, including being adopted separately. They are being put in the foster care system together._

Those were the same files that came up for Dark Angel, aka Valery Cerone. Something just doesn’t seem right about this. It didn’t seem right for Valery either, but she came clean about it, and with problems concerning keeping her mind together, as a telepath was trying to take control of her body.

Dick hoped to hell that Maia wasn’t involved in the same kind of shit Valery was. But if they were found together, then it must be true, right? He’ll have to ask her about this at some point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter refers back to a character in the previous work called Dark Angel. The character mentioned is Valery.


	3. The Field Trip

It was in September when the school had a field trip scheduled for her grade to New York City. It was just a train ride away, what with Gotham being in New Jersey and all. Maia even asked Bruce to sign the permission slip when they were first printed out and handed to the students, (about a month prior.) Unbenounced to Maia, Tim had stuck a tracker on the jacket of her uniform. It just so happened to also have a tiny listening device built into the tracker. Yes, he goes to the same school. No, he is a junior while she is a sophomore. Tim had actually done that before their first day of school, he wanted to check on her without physically going to her to see if she’s okay, and to see if she made any enemies along the way. He just wants to protect her.

Anyway, the field trip to New York was underway. The train ride was fine, the kids in her small group of six were all playing BS, the card game. The group had gone through several rounds. Each one having a different winner. Duke Thomas just so happened to be in her group. Those two don’t really talk, even though they have most of the same classes together. It’s a big school with big classes, so no one can really blame them for talking. However, some might be surprised to see that they don’t know each other, despite knowing each other’s names and faces, given that they have the higher grades of the class. He did want to get to know her better. She’s cute, is a Wayne family member, and speaks five languages maybe? Not to mention she’s a straight-A student throughout all of her classes.

Some of the people in the other groups were playing the board game Life on their phones (you know, the app version). Soon, almost everyone was playing one. There were five separate games of life playing at the same time. Phones were being passed around. The ones who weren’t playing were struggling to find out which person was playing which game, and who’s turn it was.

Although one of the girls in Maia’s group had written down an itinerary on a small sheet of paper, she, unfortunately, had lost it. But that’s fine because Maia has a copy of it. She made a point to do that as the other girl wrote it down. The youngest Wayne sibling assured them that she could handle thugs if they came around.

Their train ride stopped in Manhattan. Maia’s group had gotten to Central Park, Rockefeller Center, and the Brooklyn Bridge. (Not necessarily in that order.) They were just about to head into Times Square when this happened. A few thug-looking guys had appeared in front of the group, then behind them. Soon, and slowly, the thugs backed them into the alleyway. So far, they were just looking at them, smirking and chuckling. Maia wasn’t about to let them have their way. Quickly, she glanced around. No cameras, and no people walking on the sidewalk.

“I hope you guys don’t take this the wrong way,” Maia stated, “But something tells me you guys aren’t tourists.”

“Don’t try to play hero, missy. Just hand yourself and your lady friends over and-“ he didn’t get to finish his sentence as he had taken a palm to the face. Since she had jumped and was leaning forward, she was able to make him fall on his back.

“See? I told you,” Maia said, turning back to her classmates. “Besides, without any witnesses or cameras around, it’s basically a free-for-all.”

“Maia, look out!” Duke shouted.

“You little brat! I’ll enjoy making you scream after I’ve cut you up,” a thug stated. 

He rushed towards her, but she threw a blanket over his head and roundhouse kicked him to the ground.

“Strong words coming from the guy kissing the sidewalk,” Maia taunts. Tim, who was listening in on this snickered.

Another guy went in to punch Maia, but she swatted it to the side and blocked his attack from his other fist. Next, she kicked him forward. 

The same man tried to get her again by grabbing her shirt. She responded by grabbing his hand with her left one, and with her right arm, she lays it horizontal across his arm and pressed down, making him lose his stance. A sense of worry came upon his face as he realized she could very well break his arm. When he didn’t let go, she bent her hand backward and it dug into the crook of his neck. She dug in harder. That made him pull away.

“Let go of me!” One of her female classmates yelled.

That was able to distract the Wayne child. Someone hit her over the head and knocked her out. Tim, who was listening to this with his laptop and his earbuds in the library, contacted Dick who was close to the city and told them what happened. The two of them immediately went after their sister. Drake stayed in the library, in case there are any developments in the whereabouts of their sister. (And also school.) Before he left, Tim patched the listening device into their comms so they could hear what was being said.

“I gave my buddies a call and their in,” stated a voice they could only assume to be the leader of the operation. “We’re gonna have a commemorative photoshoot with you gals. Feel free to scream, no one will hear you.” Those words only made Grayson drive faster. 

“Ooh, and all this in an abandoned warehouse,” Maia said with a sarcastic tone. “Nice touch.” Tim wondered if she’s just saying that to be snarky, or if she knows that Tim but a tracker on her.

“Listen here, you little uppity bitch, you think you’re so smart huh? Gotham trash. You’ll know your place when we’re done with you.”

“You know, you dress like you’re a rich trust fund kid,” Maia told him. “Besides, I saw you guys on the train ride over here. You come from Gotham same us. From what I can tell, just by looking at you, your daddy works in some big company. I’m willing to bet that my dad has more money.”

Those listening in on the device heard a slap. “Damn, these people know how to lie. This girl’s got a mouth on her. Can’t wait to see what she screams out when we-“

He didn’t get to finish that sentence, as Nightwing cut him off. “When you what, scumbag?”

“How the hell did you find us?” The leader asked the two heroes.

“Well, I guess you can just thank a little birdie for that,” the black and bluebird told him. Only Maia would know what that means.

In no time at all, the thugs were taken care of. They were all knocked out cold. 

The kids grabbed their phones and other belongings they brought with them from the knocked out thugs before rejoining their grade at the train station.

Before Maia even got on the train, Nightwing asked her if she would want to go to the manor with him. She declined. Duke came up to her to make sure she and the others were okay.

During that entire encounter, she was actually debating on whether or not putting that blocker in was the right call in the long run. Her power was telekinesis. That could have been really handy in those moments. But would she really be ready to take the blocker out? She has lived a lot of her life without it. She hates her power, she hates what they did to her, and her now life-long friends. Would she even be ready to have her power around? It would put a bigger target on her back than she already has. Bruce does have a no power rule for some goddamn reason.

When she got home, Bruce insisted that she go down to the Bat Cave for a check-up with Alfred. Thankfully, he didn’t discover her blocker. Nor did he discover the scars on her back and on the tops of her arms.

Shit, that blocker has probably been there so long, that her nervous system and other parts of her body in the place the tracker was inputted had learned to cope with it being there. Most likely, if it were removed, she could have permanent damage.


	4. Meet Young Justice

Maia has now lived with her new family for three months. Today is Sunday. Which means that they didn’t have to go anywhere that day. Which is always nice. Good thing that Dick is visiting over from Bludhaven again. He says Babs is doing well.

Maia just had another nightmare. She didn’t scream, she just woke up in a cold sweat.

Right now, Maia was currently playing the piano chords to the song Like a Fool from Beginning Again. Being a player of the piano, the Wayne child agrees with her siblings in that the giant bulky string instrument had a calming effect on her. Thank the gods that the very reason she has nightmares taught her how to play the piano. 

She didn’t even notice four unfamiliar people come in until they appeared near the piano with Nightwing. She glanced away from the piano for a second into her eldest brother's eyes and smiled. That was her way of saying hi on the piano. Then, Grayson stopped. “You know Maia, I do believe that song has words to it,” he told his sister, remembering when the two of them watched Begin Again together.

“Dude,” Maia acknowledged, keeping her gaze on the piano. “You can’t be feeling the aster while listening to those lyrics.”

Her brother looked at the ceiling for a second, elaborating this. “Okay, true, but that doesn’t explain why you’re playing the chords if it’s such a depressing song.”

“I guess it’s just one of those songs where the lyrics are kind of a downer, but the melody is so upbeat.” Nightwing nodded and resumed his course. The other four followed.

Stephanie just came in. Some dry cleaning hung from her hands. Three of those items were suits. The other two were two wool coats. “Hey Maia,” she greeted cheerfully. “Is Tim around? One of these is his.” The middle Wayne child held up the contents of the clear bagged up clothes.

“He’s not here,” she told. “He’ll be back in an hour, though.” Last time she checked, her brother was going working at Best Buy. 

“Oh okay,” Steph accepted. “I’ll just bring it over to him later.”

Maia thought about playing the piano again, but couldn’t bring herself to. Just something was bugging her. In an effort to find out what it was exactly that was bugging her, she thought back to when Dick brought those four people in. She didn’t really get a good look at them, but they were all in civilian form. There was one black guy with blonde hair, and the rest were white people. One of them was a woman with red hair, another one was a man with red hair. The last one was a man with black hair. He had the Superman symbol on his chest.

Hey, wait a minute… that’s it! That’s what’s bugging her. The man with that emblem on his chest and his black hair, she’s seen him before. Well, actually, she’s pretty sure she’s seen the black man on TV. But going back to that other guy. Where has she seen him before? She feels like it’s been years or so, since she even saw him, but she just can’t place where.

Judging by the fact that they all entered the bat cave via grandfather clock, they’re all superheroes. Bruce was already in the cave, they must be meeting him about something. Or not. But that would make sense. 

Not interested in stroking the ivory keys of the giant instrument in front of her, she gave way to her curiosity. The girl made the trek down into the cave.

When she gets down there, she finds her father, the reporters, and the kid down there. They were all studying the screen. Slowly, she makes her way over to the group.

 _“Huh,”_ she thinks. _“It must be pretty important if Wonder Woman is talking to them via hologram.”_

Wanting to hear more of what they were saying, she moved closer. However, it was too close as Batman stated, “Maia, stop hiding behind the machinery.” With a sheepish smile, she walked up to the group.

“Hi,” she said shyly.

“So, I’m guessing she knows about… everything?” The black man asked.

“Pretty much. Although… not, exactly, everything,” Maia confirmed.

“How much of that did you hear?” Batman asked.

“Nothing I would repeat outside this cave,” she answered.

Her father switched from superhero mode to dad mode. “Did you choose a dress to wear for tomorrow?” Bruce asked her, not looking away from the screen.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“Can’t guarantee I’ll stay though. Hate crowds.” With that, she took her leave.

She didn’t want to get into the college discussion with her father again. He would have told her that in going to these kinds of events she could establish connections with people to get into a good college. She has already told him that she decided on applying to Lewis & Clark and Willamette's early action, and Colorado College and Bates College's regular decision. He would have told her that she could get into an Ivy school if she wanted, which clearly she doesn’t.

Don’t get her wrong, she isn’t skipping out on the event just for that, she just doesn’t do well with an overwhelming amount of people. It gives her some anxieties. All of that anxiety actually comes from the reason she has the implant in her arm in the first place.

  
  


The next time she saw any of the new people were on the street. They were just out walking. Maia was on her way back from the Best Buy down the street from the manor. 

As of now, Tim’s day job is working at Geek Squad, the tech support unit in Bestbuy. She heard that the boss was hesitant about hiring him, given that she would have thought he’d at least be in his senior year of High School. Maia just needed her battery changed and had already bought the battery. Since she was already a Geek Squad member, Tim just replaced the battery. Although, he did tell her that she could have bothered him with this by knocking on his bedroom door.

Her reply: “Oh, well, I wouldn’t want to pry you away from Steph.” It was said in a quiet manner as if it was a secret.

“How did you know about us?” asked Tim, removing the bottom of her Dell Inspiron.

“Well, it was kind of obvious,” she stated. “Both of you were offline for two hours almost every other day, I dunno, it seemed kind of sus.” As she said this, Tim removes the old battery before pausing his work.

“Did you just shorten the word suspicious?” Tim asked her with a quirked eyebrow. She nodded. “Why?” That question was asked barely above a whisper. The boy then went back to his work, installing the new battery.

“Because I can, and I wanted to.”

Drake then screwed the bottom back on and handed the laptop to his sister. “Alright, well, here you go.”

“Thanks!” She said cheerily. 

As she walked out the door, she bumped into none other than man with the Superman emblem. A camera placed in his hands. His body is like a rock.

“Oh, sorry,” the two of them said simultaneously. They then looked at each other and recognized one another immediately.

“Hey,” Maia said shyly.

“Hi,” he stated. She couldn’t help but stare at him for a couple of seconds. There was just something that seemed familiar about him. Where has she seen him before?

“I’ll get out of your way,” Maia stated as she moved to the side. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you,” he said.

  
  


a few hours later, she called Valery. “Hey Val, do you know anyone named Conner Kent?”

”yes, he’s a member of the justice league why?” She answered.

”I remember seeing him from somewhere, but I can’t figure out where.” Valery was about to say something but Maia stopped her. “And no it wasn’t on TV... hey, how’s it going with them anyway?”

”it’s going great actually.”

”that’s good. That’s good.”

”will you be joining at any point?”

”Are you kidding? None of my family knows a thing about my past. Besides, I told them I wasn’t interested in becoming a vigilante.”

”Right, okay. Well, I have to go. See you.”

”Yeah, see you.”

And so the time came when they had to go to the event. Maia’s dress of choice? A blue floral dress by Jason Wu.

In her opinion, these types of gatherings are boring as hell.

So, she decides to hang out on the balcony. 

No one else is on there. That’s good. At least she has that going for her. She has some time to think.

Now, back to that man. Where has she seen his face before? At school? No, she would have known him already. Okay, what about before Gotham? Where did she see him? Not in the foster care system. Not in her old school. So then where?

All of a sudden, an image comes to her head. It’s of the boy in cryogenic sleep. He wore a white shirt, with a red Superman symbol on it. Oh my god, he looks exactly the same. So then, he’s a Cadmus project, like her, and Valery (her friend). So then, if he’s Superboy, then who were the rest that came in with Grayson? 

The girl was brought out of her thoughts by a voice. “It’s kind of cold out here, you want a jacket?”

Maia turned her head over her shoulder to view Conner standing at the entrance. “Oh, no I’m fine,” she told him, turning her head back to the city. He stepped up next to her right side in silence. They stood there in such a state for what seemed like an hour. “You know, I couldn’t figure out why you looked so familiar to me. Now I’m pretty sure I do,” she stated, keeping her gaze forward.

“Well, I’ve never seen you before yesterday, so enlighten me.”

“You were a Cadmus project, weren’t you?”

A small audible gasp could be heard from him. The Wayne child glanced at him to see that his eyes widened. Then they relaxed. “Let’s say hypothetically that you’re right. How would you have gotten that information?”

“I was in Cadmus too, there was this Cadmus project. When I was a girl, from seven to thirteen, they did experiments on me,” her voice started breaking, tears rolled down her cheeks, and she inhaled. “And they made me a meta. I saw you once in a pod while I walked around the facility.”

The man sighed. His gaze still held its course ahead. “Alright, you seem to be telling the truth, so, so will I... I am a clone of Superman. I was intended to be his replacement should the man ever disappear or die.”

“Wow,” she breathed a heavy breath. “Let’s agree to keep this between us, yeah?”

“Sure.” With nothing else to say, they fell into silence.

A few moments later, the door opened. Neither of them turned to see who it was. The click of a lighter flew to their ears. A few seconds later, someone breathed deeply. Their smoking. They stepped up into the left window of Maia’s peripheral vision. No one said a thing for at least a minute. 

Tim came outside perhaps just to get some fresh air. His sister turned to him. “You’re crying,” he noticed. “Why are you crying?”

“It’s nothing,” she said, not moving an inch.

“Like hell it is,” her adopted older brother stated. She turns towards him. Tim then looked at Conner. “Did he have something to do with it?”

“No.” Her voice was calm as if nothing ever happened.

His eyes switched from looking into either of his sister's eyes multiple times just to make sure she isn’t lying. Tim sighed. “Right well, I was just thinking of heading out. You wanna do the same? I can take you back to the manor.”

“Yeah, that’d be good,” Maia agreed. 

With that, the two of them left. Maia just went straight to her room, wiped the makeup off of her face, got into pj’s, and crashed into bed.


	5. The Phone Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a character from this series previous work named Valery. The title of the fic is Young Justice: Dark Angel

Maia has been a member of the family for a long while now. The news told about the secret plan the Justice League had about the Meta Trafficking. Being one herself, (secretly, and with ties to that particular subject), she admires them even more. 

Maia knows that Tim put a tracker on her uniform, but she won’t take it out, it would be useful in the future and has been useful in the past. She just won’t tell him that she knows it’s there.

Although she feels slightly integrated into Gotham, she’ll still put the word the infront of a highway number, and refer to the normal streets as surface streets like the L.A. girl that she is.

They know that Maia speaks fluent Tagalog because she’s half Filipina, they know she speaks fluent Spanish because she had a lot of Hispanic friends, and that her white friends thanked her for speaking it, as she could talk with their parent’s gardeners and house keepers.

However, the family has yet to know why she speaks fluent Mandarin and Javanese. Dick had to look up where the latter is spoken. As it turns out, it’s a language widely used in Indonesia. He didn’t look that up until after she had spoken it in front of him, however.

They also saw her using ASL in a FaceTime phone call with one of her friends from L.A. who was at a deaf event. The phone was placed in front of her so that she could use her hands freely. Little does she know that they speak that as well.

Whenever Maia wants to talk to Bruce about something, but doesn’t want her siblings to know what she’s saying, she’ll either speak to him in Mandarin, or Tagalog, as he speaks both.

She would speak to him in Spanish, but Tim is pretty good with that language.

The only time they heard her speak Javanese is on the phone. Everyone was in the car on their way home from the movies. Maia literally just turned her phone on (It was all the way turned off, as is her phone policy for going to the cinema) when it rang. 

( _Italics = people speaking._ *...* means action, **bold** means other person talking.)

It went like this: _Ring, Ring._ *Small Guitar Riff* _Don’t you wanna answer your phone?_ *Another small guitar riff* _Somebody answer the phone for crying out loud._ *Electric guitar and drums start to play in the background* _Hello? Answer the freakin’ phone. You got a phone call. ANswEr, the PHONE. Dude, Telephone~. How many times are you gonna let this thing ring?_ **You should seriously let this go to voicemail.** _Yeah… let it go to voicemail._

Siri: You have one new message.

The girl clicked on it. A male voice yells, “How _dare_ you!”

She called them back. “What do _you_ want?” Maia asked rudely. Putting the phone in front of her face, as it was a FaceTime.

“Okay, where are you? Can you watch the news?” the voice asked on the phone. It was a boy’s voice and from what the boys behind her could see, it was indeed a seventeen year old boy. (We, know how FaceTime works right? It’s louder than a regular call. So everyone in the car can hear him, Maia’s volume is still sort of high.) 

Her brothers quieted down to hear the conversation.

“Uh, yeah, why?” She asked him before asking Tim for his tablet. Reluctantly, he gave it to her.

“Okay, so go to Today in L.A., and look at the live feed that says: Fire near the Getty Museum off the highway close to Encino.” She did as instructed.

Her eyes widened as she watched the footage and read the articles. “Oh my god, it’s huge. Are you guys okay?” 

“Yeah, we’re fine,” he answered. The boy paused as he looked behind him. The noise of another person in the background could be heard. “Your girlfriend wants to talk to you though.”

Maia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “For the MILLIONTH TIME, She’s not my girlfriend!” Now her siblings were _very_ interested in this conversation. It seemed like two people said that, Maia, and another female. It must have been someone on the other line.

“Awww, really? Then why did you two-,” the boy started before being cut off.

“We. Just. Sparred. That’s it.” The female voice on the other line told him.

“Really? That’s not what I was told,” the boy stated with a slightly arched eyebrow.

“Oh my god,” Maia mumbled, running her hand through her hair before asking, “And what, exactly, were you told?” a hint of anger in her voice. 

“I was told,” the boy on the other line of the call continued, “that sometimes, you attack her, on the mouth, with your mouth, softly.”

All activities in the car (except for driving, of course) ceases. Everyone in the car looks to see Maia’s heavily blushing face. Soon though, she covers her cheeks.

“Menengo, Leo!” Their sister shouted. “Aku sumpah, yen geni ora mateni sampeyan, aku bakal mabur maneh L. A. lan mateni awakku dhewe!” 

Dick turned to Tim who shrugged. 

“Dadi bener?” the male voice they presumed is named Leo asked.

“Leo, mung amarga kita loro biseksual lan nyumerepi akeh, ora ateges kita pacar.”

“Awww, but you guys would be so cute together,” he protested.

“If I was still in Los Angeles, I swear I would drive over there and punch you in the face.”

“I could do that for you,” the female next to Leo stated.

“Thanks, Val,” the Wayne child voiced.

Dick and Tim look at each other. They thought they recognized that voice from somewhere. Valery Cerone, aka Dark Angel, did have a similar background to Maia (yes, they checked). The boys figured they must know each other either from before the five years they both went missing, or during the five years they were missing. This actually explains a lot. Maia’s name has come up a few times when they talked to Valery, they just thought there was another Maia.

“Would you be driving safely like a normal person and on the speed limit? Or is your street racer side going to take over?” He asked.

“Why would that matter?” Maia asked, not even denying the street racing in the presence of her family.

Dick’s eyebrows creased as he wondered if his sister actually drove like a street racer, or if they were just joking.

The girl on the other line took the phone from Leo despite his protests. “Did you tell them yet?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“No, I meant the other thing.”

“Haven’t told them that thing either.”

“Maia-“

“Valery. I’ll tell them when I’m ready. Okay?”

“R-right... Okay. Byeeeeee.” Was all she said. With a response like that, the boys got to wondering just what their sister could be hiding.

“Bye.” With that, they hung up.

Their sister closed her eyes as if to calm herself. Next, she looked around nervously. “None of you speak Javanese right?” she asked them.

“No, don’t think so.” “Now I sort of wish I did.” “Wait, did you say Japanese, or Javanese?” a few of them said simultaneously.

“Ja-v-anese,” she said, pronouncing the ‘v’. 

“Oh, then no.” “Where is that language even spoken anyway?”

She didn’t answer Tim’s question. 

“Do you, uhhhh-” Dick struggled to formulate the words.

“No,” his sister told him, crossing her arms. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

The rest of the car ride was ridden in heavy awkward silence. So much so, that Maia decided to put on headphones and blast her hard rock music. All of which, they could hear.

When they got home, Maia again went straight to her room, slamming the door. At times, she blasted her music, at other times she didn’t. The girl didn’t come out until Alfred called for dinner.

Even then it was especially awkward. Dick tried to make small talk, but it just seemed like all the worries and thoughts in Maia’s brain radiated out of her in waves. Nothing was said, but they could feel it, the tension. Unless you were Alfred or Dick, no one said a thing.

__

Tonight was Tim and Maia’s tv watching night. They had reserved Tuesday Night after she got him hooked on Hawaii Five-0. Usually, although it took a little while for this to happen, Maia would curl up next to her older brother. On the rare occasion that the both of them would fall asleep with a shared blanket over them, Alfred would sneak a picture of them before he had to wake them up and send them to their rooms.

Tonight, was none such a night.They sat at opposite sides of the couch with two different blankets. One for each of them.

They watched their episodes in an uncomfortable silence. Tim almost couldn’t bear it. 

“I’m totally okay with it, you know,” he told her before she left the room. “If you’re gay.”

He didn’t get an answer straight away. When they were done, she said, “I’m not exactly gay, but thanks,” and left quickly. Which left Tim to turn off the tv and fold the blankets.

Before she could even reach her room, she was approached by Dick. “Still not going to talk about it, Dick.” She summed up, not ready and way too tired to talk about this with her oldest brother. Maia slammed the door in a worried Grayson’s face.

_____

The next day, Maia was the last person to arrive in the kitchen for breakfast. When she did, she grabbed a toast, buttered it, put cinnamon powder on it and ate it with orange juice. When she was almost done with it, she got a phone call.

This time, it was a different ring tone. In fact, it was the chorus of Can I Get A Witness? By SonReal.

“What is it, Ichigo?” she asked as she walked out of the room. The rest of the batfam didn’t hear much for a while until she yelled, “SO YOU BROKE INTO MY APARTMENT?!?!” Yep, she still owns the apartment her half lived in even though her foster family had a room for her at their house. It’s still in the valley of L.A. though. She had insisted on keeping it after the Wayne’s took her in.

Tim nearly jumped at the change in volume. Heavy steps could be heard walking back into the kitchen. Maia walked through the door frame with her thumb and her pointer finger pinching the bridge of her nose. She said, “The needle and thread are in the middle cabinet near the washer and dryer. Everything else, like gauze, bandages and rubbing alcohol are under the bathroom sink, Okay?... and try not to get yourself kicked out of the clinic before you get hurt again Ichigo.”

She looked up to see everyone staring at her. “What?” she asked, before getting her backpack and walking out the door. Alfred needs to drive her to school in a few minutes anyway. He doesn’t actually need to, but he insists. And when he insists, you do not turn the man down.

For almost a week, Maia didn’t speak unless spoken too, which wasn’t her. It was as if she retreated into a shell, a wall from any incoming dangers that might crash her world into shreds. 

But soon, that blew over when she realized that her brothers, sisters (who heard about the entire thing from Dick), father, and butler knew that their sister would just be stubborn with them.

Although, she still made the occasional Agent M appearances, which was always appreciated by everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Shut up, Leo!”
> 
> “I swear if the fire doesn’t kill you, I will fly to L.A. and kill you myself!”
> 
> “Is that right?”
> 
> “Just because we are both bisexual, and we hang out, doesn’t mean that we are dating.”


	6. Red Hood

Maia was walking home from school today. It was late. Though it was only late because she chose to walk to Bestbuy with Tim to his work with the Geek Squad. Maia did some homework there, and then left. Now it’s about 6:27 p.m. (18:27). Not much other people were out on the street.

As she walked home, she decided it would be shorter to go through the alleyways. (She know’s it’s stupid but she can handle herself.) Petilos made quick work of it anyway. It was about 6:49, (18:49), when she was stopped by a mugger.

“Give me your wallet!” He said as he pointed a gun in her face. He received no verbal answer, but Maia raised her hands in the air.

“I said give me your wallet!” He said angrily this time.

“O-okay, okay… I’m taking out my wallet,” she enunciated. Slowly, she knelt down and took it out. But then stopped. “C-can I take the picture I have of my baby girl, please?” She received no answer. “Please, she’s my baby girl, this is the only printed picture I have her, I don’t have enough money to print another one.” This was partly a lie. Although she does have a picture of a tiny child, it does not belong to her. The baby is a friend’s back in California. However, Maia is like a second mom, or an aunt to the three year old. She does however, have an actual picture of the child in her wallet.

The man’s arm with the gun lowered slightly. He blinked a couple of times. “Uh, whatever lady, just take it out and give me the wallet.”

“Thank you,” she said with a semi shaky voice. “Hey, hey do you have kids?” 

“Just give me the wallet,” he said, raising his gun again. Clearly appealing to his humanity isn’t going to work. She took out the picture (and her credit cards, she made sure to hold them in a way to hide them from his view and only show the picture.) and slowly handed him the wallet. 

Once it was in his hands, the gun was lowered as he looked at the contents of the wallet. While his guard was down, with one foot bent she hoped towards him, one of her arms bent as well. Her elbow collided with his head, which made him lose his stance and desperate his hands. From there, she kicked him in the balls, making him drop the wallet and the gun. Quickly she grabbed her wallet and began storing it back into her bag.

Once he regained himself, he said, “You little bitch,” his teeth were slightly red. Blood. Before he could attack her, a bullet was fired in between them.

“Well, I guess she wanted her wallet back,” said an almost robotic voice. Then a figure appeared with a red helmet and a cool open jacket. His shirt, or what resembles a shirt, is grey with a red bat on it.

The thug was about to retrieve his gun, but the mysterious person shot at it, making it slide away. The thug froze. 

“Unless you want a bullet in your head,” came the robotic voice of the mystery man again. “Leave.”

The thug chuckled nervously as he got up and sprinted away for his life.

The mystery man then turned to Maia. “You okay?” He asked offering a hand to help her up. Hesitantly, she took it. As she stood up, she reached for her backpack and placed on of the straps over her right shoulder.

“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Thank you, but I should be going home.” With that, she started walking away. He gave no reply. Then she stopped, and turned to face him. “What do I call you?”

“Red Hood,” he answered.

“Okay, well then, thank you, Red Hood,” she said before walking off again. She found it odd that he would be called that, since the particular part of clothing named was actually a helmet. Maia’s heard of the red hood, but she thought that the Joker was the original one. Right? So then, why is someone trying to bring that character back? Either way, she’s almost late to dinner. She wouldn’t be surprised if Tim got there before her.

When she arrived, she found that Tim was still working, as he was not in the house. Actually, Bruce isn’t there either.

When she found Alfred, she asked her if Bruce contacted him as to when he’ll be home. Alfred said he’d be here around 7:30, (19:30). So with some time to kill, Maia went to her room and did her homework. A few minutes later, Tim got home.

Then twenty minutes after that, Their father arrived. They had dinner. All throughout that, Maia wondered if she should tell them what happened today. She doesn’t want to make them worry, but what if something bad involves that Red Hood guy? 

When they were about to go on patrol, Maia stopped her father. “Hey dad?” She said.

“Yes, Maia? What is it?” He asked, turning towards her in his bat suit.

“So, while walking home today, I saw someone getting mugged. I was about to intervene, but this guy with a red helmet and a red bat on his chest intervened before I could. He told the lady to call him Red Hood,” she paused. “I just thought you should know that.”

“Thank you sweetie,” he said. His mind seemed to wander off as he stared into space. Maia took that as her cue to leave him be.

_ “Maybe,”  _ she considered in thought.  _ “Maybe whoever is under that helmet is trying to get to Batman. But who out of the many people would want to do that?” _

Both Alfred and Maia were running point. However, Alfred was the voice on the comms. Maia was doing everything else. She was worried about them, so she helped out.

On their way back, Batman reported Robin having injuries, so Maia got all the supplies ready. Bruce said he had a broken arm, a few broken ribs, and a quite a few bruises.

When they got home, Robin’s face was a bit bloody and he held his right arm as if it was broken. Batman’s stature seemed angry and agitated. 

When she saw her brother’s face, she said, “Holy shit. who did that?” She checked her brother over, cleaning the bloody injuries and wrapping up the wounds that need to be wrapped, and putting his arm in a splint and sling.

“Well, it was half an Amazo robot, and the other half… It was that Red Hood guy you mentioned,” Tim said, voice slightly raspy.

“I know how you are physically,” she said as she tended to him. “But how are you emotionally?”

Tim looked at her as though he’s never been asked that before. He then answered, “I’m fine, I guess,” he lied.

“Okay, how are you really feeling?” Maia asked him. Apparently she wasn’t going to let this go.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It seemed like he was angry at me for something. He didn’t really say anything. But, I have never encountered him in my life.” 

Maia hummed. “Alright, well, this is all I can do. I’ll see you in the morning okay?” He nodded. She was about to go to her room but then said, “If you want to take the day off of school, I can get your classwork and homework. Just send me your schedule.” Tim didn’t reply, so she left.

_________

The next night, Batman and Nightwing pay the Joker a visit in Arkham to interrogate him. They told Maia that he denied involvement. 

Nightwing came by after Robin was told to rest.

_________

The next night, her, Tim and Alfred were in the cave. Batman and Nightwing were fighting the Red Hood at a train station. No one was hurt this time.

On her way out, she saw her father working on a price of audio. That same robotic voice she heard sounded. Bruce separates the voice from what sounded like a structure collapsing. Then, the voice said Bruce.

Whoever this person is, he knows that Bruce is Batman. Her father called for Alfred and together, the two of them ventured to the graves at the far edge of the manor. The place Maia had not even considered venturing to.

After maybe fifteen minutes, they came back. Maia allowed herself to go to bed.

The next night involved the Fearsome Hand of Four and Red Hood. Batman incapacitated three of them, while Hood killed the fourth.

He stayed up late analyzing blood.

Maia noticed that he wasn’t getting his normal amount of sleep. He seemed severely focused on catching Red Hood. It almost seemed like an unhealthy focus. She was starting to get worried.

He even went to Ra’s Al Ghul’s to confront him about something.

Later in the week, the Joker is seen on television burning a shipping container filled with people. Most notably, Black Mask. Batman is seen saving the hostages, while Red Hood takes The Joker.

Batman didn’t return to the cave I rule many hours later. At that point, both his children were in bed. Well, they were in their rooms, but not necessarily sleeping. They were both worried about him.

The Bat was only home for a short period of time however, as he went back out.

In the morning, the news told of a bomb that went off in some building downtown. They found the Joker in the rubble.

When Bruce emerged into the kitchen, he told his children everything. They had the right to know. 

“So the costume on display in the cave, is Jason’s?” Maia asked‍.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“And the room across the hall from mine that’s locked is Jason’s too, right?” asked Tim. He already knew half the stuff his father was telling him, but he nodded along anyway.

“Yes,” their father stated. “I haven’t gone in there, but Alfred probably still keeps it up.”

Over the course of the next few days, the Joker was put back into Arkham and the Black Mask was arrested for his involvement in the Joker's escape.

  
  
  



	7. The School Shooting

On this particular day (Friday), Maia had to go to school. She decided to go to the library during lunch period. No one ever really goes to the library at lunchtime on Friday unless you have detention. That’s just a thing. Does she have detention? No, she just wanted to eat somewhere quiet.

When she got there, she saw that Duke was there, sitting in the second row of tables. Maia chose to sit in the back row on his side. There were three other kids. None of whom she would call friends, or even acquaintances. She may be a Wayne, but she isn’t one to roll with the popular crowd. The girl and the jock were sitting at the front table on the left column. Another boy sat directly behind them.

A teacher was there, but he wasn’t really paying attention to them. He was just on his phone. 

“Oo~,” said the boy on the left second row as she passed him. She recognized him, but didn’t know his name. Maia knew however, that he was a pretty big trouble maker. She doesn’t even have to know him to see that his home life ain’t too great. “Looks like we got a Wayne kid. Tell me little lady, what did you do to get in here?”

Maia just rolled his eyes and gave him the middle finger. To that he chuckled.

The other two were a girl from the popular crowd, and a jock. The girl, Lara, most likely got in here for skipping out on a day of school for shopping, while the jock, either did something really stupid, or he paid a nerd to do his homework for him.

As to why Duke was there, he got into a fight this morning. Which, from what she heard, is the third time this week.

The only reason Wayne knows Lara and Duke’s names is because they try to be friends with her.

Everyone else had their lunch bags out. Once Maia sat in her seat, she pulled out her lunch.

Given that Maia knows Damian put a tracking device/listening device on her and she hasn’t taken it off yet, her little brother is in for a little ride with this crowd around her.

Lara is the first one to pull out her lunch. It’s sushi.

The delinquent doesn’t seem to know that though as he’s gotten up from his chair and is standing leaning forward in between Lara and the jock.

“The heck is that?” He asked Lara.

She turned her body to face him. “It’s sushi,” she answered.

“Sushi?” he asked. She nodded. “Oh,” he said in a disappointed tone. “So that’s what that is.”

“What you mean that’s what that is? Have you never had sushi before?”

“No,” he said rudely. “And I don’t want any.”

“Wait a minute, where’s your lunch?” She asked.

“Don’t have one,” he answered. The delinquent glanced at the jock, looked away and then looked back at him. That dude had taken out three sandwiches, a banana, an apple, and a Capri Sun. “Why the hell do you have three sandwiches, A.J.?”

“Why don’t you just mind your own business?” A.J., the jock retorted.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Jacob.” The jock stood up.

“You wanna go?” Jacob, the delinquent asked a little too loudly.

“Hey, guys!” The teacher raised his voice. “Knock it off.”

The delinquent was about to say something, but he heard a strange crunching noise coming from Maia’s direction. She had a turkey basil pesto panini and put sun chips in it.

He just stood there with a weird look in his eyes. When Maia looked up, he gestured to her in a silently asked question as to what the hell she was doing. In response, she shrugged. He waved her off.

All of a sudden, they heard a gunshot. Everyone jumped. Without a second thought, Maia ran up to the door.

“What are you doing?” Lara asked in a hushed voice.

The Wayne child didn’t answer her. Instead, she took off her sweatshirt and tied it around the door handles of the library doors. Next, she quickly ran back to her seat and grabbed her phone. Just in time for the teacher to turn off the lights. Everyone hid behind the shelves.

While behind the shelf, Maia took out her phone and shielded the brightness from view. While doing that, the girl texted in the group chat: School shooting underway. One of you get here quickly.

They hid in that library for what was really fifteen minutes, but it felt like an eternity. During those fifteen minutes, most of the time, they were silent. Save for the text messaging through the group established by Duke. 

He came up with the idea while trying to mouth what he was saying to Maia who just looked at him confused. He thought he was sitting close enough for her to understand but far enough to respect personal boundaries. It was when Maia shrugged and mouthed I don’t know what you’re saying, for what must have been the fourth time.

Duke just decided to make a group chat. The chat consisted of all of them. It was almost amusing actually, to see Duke run across the library and slide to a stop in front of each and every one of them for their phone number. There were two instances where he slid into a chair. A loud crash sounded, followed by quiet laughter.

Duke: So, how’s everyone holding up?

Maia: I’m fine. But I think it’s Lara you need to worry about.

Lara: Haha, very funny.

Jacob: This is so stupid. Why don’t we just all sit next to each other and whisper?

Duke: Because the shooter can come in here any moment.

Maia: Yeah.

Duke: I don’t think that’s going to happen. I tied my sweatshirt around there pretty tight. Besides, why would he want to shoot the kids in detention?

Lara: What did you guys do anyway?

To get detention, I mean.

*Another gunshot was heard*

A.J., the athlete, whispered, “Jesus Crist.”

*Three other gunshots sounded. Everyone stayed still for more than a minute, even though it felt like a century had passed. The kids all started relaxing after that. The atmosphere in the room was beginning to feel suffocatingly silent.*

Duke: So… Um… Maya. What’s it like being a member of the Wayne family?

Maia: It’s kind of fun honestly. 

Growing up in poor California, L.A. especially, is a very different experience. Primarily due to 1.) I went from being in the middle class to rich. And 2.) people in the west and People in the east act and do things so differently at times.

Those two reasons alone make it pretty weird to me. Although my brothers can be a real pain sometimes.

Lara: You know, none of you answered my question earlier.

Jacob: Oh.

Sorry, Princess.

What was it again?

*Everyone in the room knew exactly what tone he was typing in. Annoyed with a splash of mochery.*

Lara: I asked what everyone did to get into detention.

Maia: Well, we all know that you went shopping yesterday.

Lara: (e_e)

Duke: I got into a fight with Jacob.

Jacob: And after I beat his ass, I pulled the Fire alarm.

Lara: Wait.

When did that happen?

Maia: While you were out shopping. 

What about you A.J.?

A.J.: I wrote faggot on Sam Morrison’s locker.

What did you do Maya?

*Another gunshot fired, making everyone pause in their movements before continuing.

Maia: I actually didn’t do a thing. I just wanted to eat in the library today. 

Jacob: You’re joking.

You gotta be.

Maia: Nope!

FYI, my name is spelled with an i instead of a y.

Jacob: Seriously? You didn’t do anything to get in here?

Maia: That’s correct~!

Lara: Typical.

Of course, a Wayne wouldn’t do anything

to get into detention. Of course they would just show up.

Maia: Excuse you?

*Another gunshot was heard, followed by some yelling. Then more yelling. Another gunshot.*

*Maia then got a text from Tim in the family group chat: I’m on the third floor in the science lab, where are you?

She texted back.

Maia: I’m with a few other students and a teacher in the library on the first floor.

Tim: When did you get detention?

Maia: I didn’t. I just wanted to go to the library today.

Steph: Someone’s shooting up your school?

Maia: Yeah. 

Oh wait!

I totally forgot you go to a different school than us!

Steph: yep. I do too sometimes.

Tim: Maia open the doors. I’m here.

Maia: Wait, how did they let you wander the halls?

Tim: They didn’t.

Maia: {sigh}

Tim: Just open the door.

Maia: K.

*Maia quietly stepped to the library doors. 

“What are you doing?” Lara whisper-asked.

“Letting my brother in,” she whispered back.

She saw her brother in the door windows. The girl quickly undid her sweatshirt that bonded the doors, and opened them. Tim quickly stepped through. Next, she hastily closed the doors and redid the sweatshirt lock.*

“Smart,” Tim mumbled. “Here,” he said as he gave his sister a grape hi chew.

Smiling, Maia snatched it out of his hands and undid the wrapper. The girl popped it in her mouth as the two of them went behind a bookcase and sat down.

“You know we can take him, right?” Tim whispered.

“Yeah, so?”

“So we don’t have to keep hiding in the library,” he said in a whisper-yell. Maia gave her brother a look that said a sarcastic: is that so? “Come on, we can end this, take him down.”

“Goddamn it, you’re right.” Maia rose to her feet. Tim did the same.

Duke peered out from his spot in the library. “What are you doing?” He whispered.

“Going to take down the gunman, what else?” asked Tim rhetorically.

“Well, I’ll see you both in hell if you don’t survive,” called Jacob, warning a few shushes as he spoke too loud.

With that, they left the library. Maia kept her sweatshirt in the room, though.

“Dude, he could be anywhere,” Tim’s sister notes.

“I know,'' said Tim, “which is why… I have a good idea on how to find him.”

The older child walked to the staircase. The younger followed close behind. He stopped. “We need a loud distracting song.”

“Ooo,” said Maia in realization. “I think I have one.”

Three other gunshots were heard.

“Good, ‘cuz I think he’s on the second floor.”

Maia started the song, We Are Not Alone, by Karla DeVito. She jogged up the stairs, and went into the second floor hallway. She danced as she moved through the halls, having not found the gunman yet.

The gunman found her, however, as he raised his gun to fire at her. Now she realized, somewhere in her plan, she fucked up. There’s a gap missing. A big one.

However, everything was fine, as Tim came up behind the gunman. He knocked him out. Before either sibling could do anything, the police arrived. The took the gun away and woke the kid up. While they arrested him, they questioned the siblings. 

Let’s just say everyone had their fair share of questions to ask the two of them after the whole ordeal concluded.


	8. Head cannons: Tim and Maia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bunch of head cannon ideas that popped into my mind. Hope you like them.

Maia came into the kitchen to grab some toast before her and Tim went to school. She was about to grab orange juice when she saw her brother’s face. 

“Dude, when’s the last time you slept?” She asked Tim as she opened the fridge. When she didn’t hear an answer, she peered in his direction to find him standing with a hand holding his chin in thought. “Oh, my god, you don’t know?”

“No, I know,” he said as his sister grabbed the orange juice out of the giant ice box. “I had slept for five hours….. 38 hours ago??”

Maia pinched the bridge of her nose while muttered “oh gods.” Then her hand went limp at her side as she poured her juice before asking, “Why do you do the things you do?”

“Hey, more nespresso, less depresso.”

“Dude, come on you know that’s not how it works.”

She then put the cap on the juice carton and tossed it towards him. He quickly placed his coffee down and caught the container of juice. Then, he looked at his sister confused.

“Hydrate, don’t dydrate,” she explained.

“But I _am_ hydrating,” he retorted, aggressively putting the orange juice down. 

“Caffeine. Makes you. Dehydrated!” She pointed out. “You should know this.” Maia then crossed the room to retrieve the juice and place it back in the fridge. The girl then placed a slice of bread in the toaster.

“Okay, but how else am I supposed to stay up?”

Bruce silently entered the kitchen.

“You’re not supposed to!” Maia continued lecturing her older brother.

“Why do you care?”

“I’m your sister damnit!” 

“Let me live my life!”

The toaster dinged and the toast popped up. Maia crosses the room again to grab it. “Alright, fine. But just remember, when you feel like shit, take care of your body, and just fucking go to sleep.”

“Okay,” he said quickly, going back to his coffee and sitting at the table. Maia just scoffed it off and sat down at the farther end of the table. The air felt tense. Being slightly empathic, she oversensed it and stopped while she was ahead. The three of them ate in silence. To Bruce it might have been awkward, but it wasn’t to Tim, or Maia. They occupied their minds with something else for the entirety of breakfast.

After they were done, the kids wordlessly discarded their plates and drinks. Tim fast-walked towards Alfred’s car. Maia was about to exit the room, but then stopped, saying, “Good morning,” then left.

When they came back, things seemed better.

Their conversation: “Onion rings are just vegetable donuts,” said Maia.

“Right,” seconded Tim, “And, lasagna is just spaghetti flavoured cake.”

“Are lobsters technically mermaids to scorpions?” Maia asked.

“Maybe… hey, are bagels breaded donuts?”

“Or are donuts doughy bagels?”

“Or both?” Tim added with an arched eyebrow, making his sister laugh.

“Every machine is a smoke machine if you operate it wrong enough…”

“I mean yeah… hotdogs are sandwiches, right?”

“Yes. There are two slices of breath with something in between, so yeah.”

“You both seem to be getting along better than this morning,” Alfred noticed.

“Yes, well, we figured, that…” Maia started.

“If we are indeed going to be living together,” Tim continued. “It doesn’t really makes sense for us to be mad. We will be seeing each other every day after all.”

“Yeah, and it would just be best if we let it go.” With that, the two siblings dropped their bags off, did their homework, and resumed their watching of Hawaii Five-0. (It’s Wednesday, and they stupidly neglected to finish the episode that was recorded on Sunday, but watched on Tuesday.)

They were in good spirits when they ate as well.

* * *

When Bruce thought it would be nice for the three of them to go out to dinner, they decided to go to an Italian place. There, Bruce spoke fluent Italian with the server and they ordered.

Bruce received a few work emails on his phone which he responded to. Three minutes later he received a call. He answered it and left the kids at the table.

Before they could get into any type of conversation, some rando in Maia’s grade came up to them.

“Hey, you’re Mia Petilios, right?” He asked as they came up to their table.

Maia rolled her eyes before facing him. “Okay, one it’s Maia, spelled with an i instead of a y, it’s Greek, and two, my last name is spelled p-e-t-i-l-o-s, pronounced Pet-e-los. Where is the extra i?”

The boy laughed nervously.

“You know you can just call me a Wayne, right?” Maia asked him.

“Oh, well, we figured that… we would just call you by your real last name since-“

“Ohhh, you think I’m adopted?” The schoolboy didn’t answer. “Is it because of the color of my skin?” He still didn’t answer. “Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, um, I just wanted to say that you did a really great job with that project.”

She smiled saying, “thanks.”

He smiled slightly before going away.

“Well, you handled that nicely,” Tim commented.

His sister smiled.

Their food came, and Bruce was still outside. Maia ordered a vegetarian risotto. There was no particular reason other than her just feeling like it. It surprised her father and brother to know that she has a strong disliking towards mushrooms. The girl placed all she found on the sides of the plate.

“Your not going to eat those?” Tim questioned, eyeing the food.

“No, you can take them,” she said. Tim immediately took the mushroom off of her plate and onto his own.

“Do you not like them?” Was her brother’s next question.

“No, I do not. You cannot pay me to eat any of those,” she said before scooping up a carrot slice with some risotto.

“Any other foods you dislike?” Her brother continued the conversation. Their father came back to the table

“Well,” Maia considered. It was at this point that their father appeared back at the table. “I can only stand mint if it’s in a toothpaste,” Tim nodded. “I hold a strong disliking towards peanut butter.” His brows raised, he wanted to ask why but allowed her to continue talking. “I can only stand peanuts in Asian dishes, but I like peanut sauce with chicken and pork.”

“Is it a taste thing or a texture thing?” asked their father, eating his bolognese.

“For which one?” She counter asked.

“All of them,” he answered.

Maia pursed her lips in thought. “With peanut butter and mushrooms, it’s both, but for mint, it’s a taste thing. Oh! And I’m not the biggest fan of bacon.”

“Really?” asked Tim, not believing in his sisters statement.

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

* * *

Them after seeing Avengers age of Ultron:

They just exited the theater. It’s 8:12 p.m. Don’t worry, they made sure to do all their homework for the weekend already. “Okay, who would win in a fight?” Asked Maia. “Wanda Maximoff, or Jean Grey?”

“Ooo,” Tim said as he thought it over as they walked down the stairs of the mall. “I think I would go with Jean?”

“Okay, why?”

“Do you think differently?”

“No, I’m just undecided.”

“Dark Phoenix. Do I need any other explanation?”

“...no,” decided his sister after some thought.

They recently discovered that they both shared a love for Marvel movies, animated series, and tv shows. They wanted to see the new movie but Bruce was unavailable to go with them, and Dick was out in Hollywood. So, they eventually decided that they would just go by themselves.

“Okay, ooo,” Maia thought up another match. “Okay. So, Batman? Or Ironman?”

Tim’s eyes widened as they walked towards the entrance. “I genuinely don’t know.”

“Neither do I,” his sister agreed. They then waited for Alfred in comfortable silence. “Steve can totally lift the hammer though, right?”

“Oh yeah, totally. Are you kidding?” 

“Okay, how about… Green Arrow, or Hawkeye?”

“See, I want to say Hawkeye, but I think that Arrow would win.”

“Why because he’s real?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Alright, okay… Deadpool? Or Winter Soldier?” She asked as Alfred’s car pulled up.Even if neither had appeared in the MCU as of yet, they still read the comics.

“Ooo,” said her brother as he opened the car door. Maia went around to the other side. “I vote Deadpool.”

“Yeah, me too. Actually, I feel like Deadpool would win in any fight. He has the healing factor, he can’t die.”

“Pretty much.” Their conversation ceased as they either struggled to find another match up, or wanted to just look out the window.

“How was the movie?” Alfred asked.

“It was good,” voiced the sister. “But I think that the first Avengers movie was better.”

“Really?” asked Alfred.

“Yeah,” seconded Tim.

When they got home, they went straight to the couch in the living room. It’s a corner sofa, so there’s room for them to both stretch out. Yet, somehow, Maia manages to fall asleep in his lap. Tim doesn’t want to get up and move, for fear of waking her.

Bruce comes home to see this.

“Hey Tim,” he whispered.

“Hey,” the teen boy repeated.

“How long’s she been asleep?” 

“About thirty minutes, maybe more.”

“You still wanna patrol?”

“Uh, yeah, just give me a second,” the boy answers before he gently gets up and places his sister in his arms. Surprise surprise, she’s his body weight. Good thing he can bench that. From there, he carries her to her room.

However, as he placed her on her own bed, she stirred. “Tim?” She asked lazily.

“Yeah?” he asked as his hands left her legs and head. 

“Not gonna meap?” She asked, not even realizing that she pronounced nap wrong.

Knowing what she meant, he chuckled. “Mai-mai, it’s 9:40.”

“Oh, guess I’ll just go to schleep ‘en,” she yawned. “G’night.”

“Night.” With that, he turned off her lights and went out of the room, ready to patrol the streets of his city.

* * *

When the weekends draw to a close, Tim and Maia usually do this thing where they sit on each other’s beds in a last ditch effort to do whatever homework they have left.

This particular Sunday, they are hauled up in Tim’s room. He’s helping her with her Precalc she purposefully procrastinated on. 

They had finally worked their way through the last of the problems when Tim stated, “Hey, Maia?”

“Yeah?” She asked, looking up from her brown paper bag covered book.

“What would you do? Or say, or even do, really, if you found out that one of your siblings was a meta?” He asked, leaning back in his rolly chair, making it lean back as well until it locks.

She sat up. “I would be happy about it. I would tell them, that they aren’t alone, and that we’d figure things out together,” she stated, heavily hinting at what she hoped her brother would catch up on. “That I would stick with them, no matter what.”

Tim looks deep in thought before he leans forward, allowing the chair to go back into its original position.

“Okay, good,” he says as he turns towards his desk. Curious, Maia gets off his bed and stands next to him, peering over his shoulder. “Because,” he continued speaking aware of his sisters proximity. “I have something to show you. Knowing you, and based on what you’ve just said, you probably won’t freak out.”

Tim then placed his hand close to the screen, and it lit up, signed into his desktop without asking for a password and logged itself into google chrome.

He turned slightly to see his sister’s creased eyebrows. Tim watches intently as she asks, “You’re a technopath aren’t you?” It was stated as if the calm of the Autumn morning had silently crept through his doorstep.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s actually why I can stay up for as long as I do.” Maia’s brows crease in confusion again, but with a smile. Signaling that she doesn’t quite get it, but she’s glad it’s that reason. Tim continues. “I carry around a portable laptop charger, but only use it for myself. If I don’t have it, I take the charge directly from the computer.”

Maia looked to be considering this carefully. “And what about the coffee?”

“I like it, but I just drink it so that it doesn’t seem weird to anyone how I could stay up for fifty hours straight. Although, I actually do like the taste.”

“And the hacking? Is that skill? Or power?”

“It’s a bit of both. I actually got really good at hacking with my fingers, before I realized I had this power, and could ask the computer to hack the system for me. I still keep up my skill level just to seem normal when other people are around especially Bruce.”

Maia smiles for a split second, knowing what he meant. “Can I ask you of something?” She asked him after much silent elaboration.

“Sure,” he replies, adopting a cautious stance and gaze as he sits in his chair.

“If you are a technopath, then you can definitely sense the implant in my arm, can’t you?”

Tim focuses for a second. He definitely has before, but he usually just dismissed the signature as her phone. “I can… and have in the past. I just didn’t want to bring it up, because either I would have to lie to you, which I don’t want to do because I love you. Which means that I would have to tell the truth, which was something I wasn’t ready for.”

Maia smiles to herself. A, because he admitted that he loved his sister in a sibling manner, and B, because he now trusts her to know this about him. “Okay,” she said, not ready for the next words to come out of her mouth. “I know you probably have a lot of questions, but before you ask them, I am a telekinetic. I grew up, hating my power, so when my foster mom paid top dollar in the black market for a meta power dampener implant, I didn’t complain. I felt like I was free. And honestly, if they developed a cure, I would take it.”

Tim just nodded his head, saying, “Okay.” No judgements whatsoever. He sighed. “So what now?”

“We go on living like we always have,” she answered him. “But when we’re alone, and we know we aren’t being watched, you can use your power freely around me. Just promise me... that you will never turn the implant off.” Her eyes switched from looking at his right eye to his left multiple times.

“Of course I would never turn it off. If you hate your power, you hate your power, no judgements.”

“Thank you,” she stated before grabbing her textbook, papers, and calculator. She stopped at the door frame saying, “I love you too, bro.” With that, she returned to her room. They stayed apart like that until Alfred called them down for dinner.


	9. Four years later/ sibling truth or dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in 2017

Six years ago, they found Maia (the blood daughter, and first blood child). She came around when it was only Dick and Tim, and their family friends Barbara Gordon and Stephanie Brown. For two years, she lived with them throughout her junior year and senior year of high school. It’s been three years since Tim graduated, and four years since Maia graduated. Tim went on to do something in the tech world while Maia went to having a double major in anthropology and psychology, and a minor in linguistics.

She also studied music.

Maia went to Lewis & Clark, in Oregon, while Tim stayed in Gotham. Since Maia was all the way on the other side of the country, and she was technically a civilian, she didn’t really know about everything that went on, but she knows the basics, a girl named Cassandra Cain joined the group. She was mute, but learned to communicate through English Sign Language, courtesy of Alfred.

Tim and Stephanie broke up. Jason has learned to forgive and forget and was actually starting to get along really well with everyone, including Tim. Although, in order for that to happen, he and baby bird were forced into doing a mission together. When in briefings, he still stands on the side of the wall though instead of sitting at the table.

They found out that Maia wasn’t the only blood child of Bruce. A young boy named Damian was ‘saved’ by Bruce from the League of Assassins and his mother, Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. 

Since Maia has preferred to go to Southern California for most of the holidays, (because of her girlfriend Valery), she had never met Damian or Cass. 

For a brief moment in time, Bruce Wayne was arrested on suspicion of murder. But he was let go.

Something happened, no one really knows what, but Bruce went missing. Everyone thought he was dead. For a while, Maia started to believe in that too. However, Tim didn’t. He persisted in the idea that he was alive. In Bruce’s absence, Dick became Batman. After a while, he thought that Tim was becoming obsessed with proving that Bruce was not dead. So, he fired him. Tim was replaced by Damian. He is currently Robin, and Tim is currently Red Robin.

There’s a group of kids running around calling themselves Robins. Duke Thomas, an old classmate of hers was one of them. When Bruce came back, he saved Duke from an attack, but was unable to save his parents. Duke was starting to go down a dark path, but Bruce brought him into the fold. Instead of having him become an actual Robin, he trained him to fight and become his own superhero.

Now that she’s graduated, she figures she’s head back east, see how her family is doing.

It was raining in New Jersey for a couple of days, so she figured she’d take her rain dark blue rain coat that reached her knees.

When she showed up at the doorstep, the loving and caring face of Alfred greeted her.

“Ah, welcome home, Maia,” said Pennyworth.

“Hello Alfie,” she said, stepping inside, bringing her suitcase with her. Her coat dotted with beads of rain.

“Would you like me to take your suitcase to your room?” Asked the old man.

“Oh, Alfred, you’re too kind, but I will take this to my room myself,” she said, heading towards the steps.

“At least let me take your coat,” Alfred suggested. The woman stopped, and gave him the coat. 

Alfred was going to go somewhere else when Maia stopped him by asking, “Are the piano and cello tuned?”

“Yes, you’re instruments have been tuned two days ago, miss.”

“Thank you very much, Alfred.”

With that, she went up to her room. It was kept exactly as she had left it. _“Perfect,”_ she thought to herself.

She then placed her suitcase on the ground, opening it, and laying it flat. After her eyes had graced the view of the manor’s gigantic yard, she decided to go downstairs and say hello to her instruments.

The first she chose to greet was the piano. The instrument that was there before her. No one really played it accept the Filipina, so it just became hers. But what should she play on this grand instrument? Definitely Chopin. Hmmmm… 

After some careful thinking, she decided to play Chopin’s Ballades: No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52. Her hands glided over the keyboard as she recalled the notes of the ballad from memory. Every note was played exactly as it should, and with purpose and feeling. Soft when required, and loud when called for. All stringing together the wonderful bunch of notes in this nine minute song.

She was a good ways into its melody when she noticed someone spying on her. Maia may be a civilian, but Bruce taught her everything she knows about fighting. Well, most of it anyway. The some that she already knew didn’t say and still hasn’t said where and who she learned it from.

Her fingers stopped in their movements. “It’s not polite to spy on people,” she called to the perpetrator. 

“How can I not spy when I’ve never seen you before in my life?” came the voice of a young boy. He sounded like the arrogant type.

Maia turned around to see a boy, who looked to be about fourteen, give or take. She walked up to him. His stance tense and ready for a fight.

“You must be Damian,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m Maia.” She smiled. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, little brother.”

A mixture of emotions was plastered on his face. The noticeable ones being wonder, happiness, and a thin layer of distrust.

“Hi,” was all he said as he shook her hand. “It’s an honor to meet you.” That comment made the twenty-two year old smile again. Although, he probably said that just to say it. He might not have meant that.

“I thought I heard someone playing the piano,” a cheerful voice stated as it entered the room. Maia turned to face this person. To her surprise, it was Tim. His hair was chin length now, he was slightly taller.

Maia couldn’t help but cover her mouth out of laughter. “Oh my god, you’re hair,” she giggled as she walked towards him.

“Hello to you too,” Timbo stated. The two siblings embraced.

“Maia?!?” Came Dick’s voice.

“Hey Dick!” She called as she let go of Tim to greet Richard. The two hugged. 

“How’ve you been?” She asked him. 

“I’ve been just fine, how ‘bout yourself?”

“Pretty good, honestly.”

Dick smiled. “That’s great.”

“How’s Barbara?” 

“Oh, she’s doing well. She’s here, actually.”

“Yay! Oh! and how’s Steph?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Came Steph’s voice from the top of the stairs. The blonde’s lips are curled into a wide toothy smile.

“Hey!” Maia called.

The two traveled to the bottom of the steps to greet each other.

The Filipina could sense that someone else was there, she just couldn’t hear them. So, she turned around to see another half Asian girl. Tim sent a picture of her to his sister. She knows that the woman is mute and can speak through ESL. Good thing she speaks that.

*Hi,* she signed. *You must be Cassandra. My name is Maia.*

*Hi Maia,* Cass signed back. *I’ve heard a lot about you.*

*Good things I hope.*

*Yeah. Good things.*

“Hey, wait, Maia, since when did you know ESL?” Steph asked.

“Since I was thirteen,” she said and signed at the same time. “There was a mute who signed ESL and ASL in the foster home, Valery, Leo and I all learned both.”

“Cool,” said the blonde. Cass just smiled.

The rain came down harder and thunder cracked the sky.

A few moments later, Bruce entered the room pushing Barbara in her wheelchair.

“Hey, dad! Hey Babs!” She voiced cheerfully as she fast-walked over to them, hugging them both.

“Why didn’t you call us? We could have picked you up.” asked Babs.

“Oh, well, I thought I’d surprise you guys,” Maia reasoned.

“Well, you’re just in time for dinner,” Bruce told her. “Alfred was going to try and make the dish you love so much.” Maia’s faces beamed with joy. “Why don’t you go and help him?” 

Alfred and Maia spent a good forty minutes cooking Pancit. They made a different smaller batch of vegetarian pancit for Damian.

It became later at night. Some people, like Bruce, Damian, and Dick, were out patrolling the city. Babs was in the batcave being Oracle.

Tim, Steph, Cass, Maia, and Jason were all sitting in the library. It was still raining outside. Young people being bored, they decided to play truth or dare. 

Jason was up and this time, it was time for her to ask Maia truth or dare. She replied dare. Not thinking she smoked, or does smoke he dared her to strike the match on the bottom-side rubber of her boot, light a cigarette in her mouth and smoke it. To his surprise she did. Lifting her foot to her mouth. Once she had the cigarette lite, she inhaled from the cig and blew out a perfect circle in his face.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Jason asked. “As far as anyone knows, you don’t smoke.”

“I smoked a little when I was fourteen. That was when I was still with a foster family and in the public school system.”

“Ohhhh,” said Tim, as if it made sense to him. Maia has explained to her shoulder-length-haired brother that when she was fourteen, her foster parents had her in the public school system in California for about two years now. She had smoked some and picked up tricks there, before her foster parents decided to send her, and the other children they took care of to private schools. Maia learned to quite after that.

That is exactly what she explained to Jason and the others tonight.

“Ohhh, okay, that makes sense.”

Now it was Maia’s turn to ask someone. “Steph, truth or dare?”

“Um ... truth?” She answered, unsure of herself and what her family friend might ask.

“Okay, if you woke up as the opposite gender, what would you do first?”

She thought about this for a moment. Her eyes squinted. “Probably try peeing standing up.”

“Ohmygosh Steph,” Maia and Tim both said simultaneously as they put their heads in their hands.

“What?” The blonde asked. No reply. “Anyway… Cass, truth or dare?”

^Truth,^ she writes on the notebook they gave her to write what she wants to say down.

“Would you rather choose to save 100 people without anyone knowing about it, or not save them, but have everyone praise you for it?” Steph asked.

Cass didn’t even think before she answered, ^Save them.^ The mute woman then turned to Maia and singed, *If you haven’t had your first kiss yet, who in this room would you want it to be with?*

Maia’s lips pursed slightly, but then she smiled. She signed, *I’d actually want it to be you, but I’ve already had my first kiss.*

Cass smiled and slightly blushed. Tim smiled too, remembering that conversation his sister had with her girlfriend overFaceTime in the car that one time. That was the day they found out that Maia was at least queer or questioning. (I should note that Steph can only kind of understand sign language. Jason is also struggling, but Tim knows all of it.)

Maia then turned to her brother and asked, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he responded.

“Talk in a Russian accent for three rounds.”

“Vy?” He asked, already starting the accent. Maia nearly smiled. “Okey‍, Hayson? Druth or dare?”

“Dare,” the red hood answered.

“Svitch clodes vis one of de guirls for dwo rounds,” Tim continued the accent.

Jason sighed, and looked between the three females that sat before him. Maia and Steph were equally shorter than him by six inches. Cass was shorter than him by four inches. She might be the safest to switch with. Their body frames are all relatively similar. Yeah, switch with Cass.

“Hey Cass, wanna switch with me?” Jason asked, looking her right in his eyes. The woman shrugged and nodded before getting up.

Five minutes later, they came back wearing opposite clothes. Cassandra looked fine, but Jason looked uncomfortable. The sat down.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn,” Todd noticed. He looked to Maia. “Are you a virgin?”

Seriously? Out of all the questions, he asks me that? “No, I am not a virgin,” she said.

Tim’s and Stephanie’s eyes went wide. “W-was it with Valery?” This was the first thing either of them had heard of this. Only logical thing was to assume that she had sex with her girlfriend.

“Yes. Yes it was,” she answered. Unwilling to talk about the private matter, she turned to Cass. “Okay, Cass?” The mute turned her head towards the half Filipina. “Truth or dare?”

*Truth,* Cass hesitantly signed. 

“Are you sure?” Maia checked. She nodded. “Okay,” the twenty-two year old thought up the question. She signed as she asked, “How long have you gone without a shower?”

Cass looked around the room in thought, then signed, *three months.*

“Three months?” Maia repeated, she nodded. “Cool.”

*What about you?* 

“Longest I’ve ever gone without a shower would be… six weeks,” the Filipina recalled. That was ten years ago. That was when Valery and herself were on the run. Running away from who kept them captive for five years. (They escaped when they were twelve.) All this talking has made her think about a past she’d rather forget. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

All of a sudden, a phone vibrates. Maia checks her right side pocket of her pants. The vibrating phone was hers. She picked it up and stared at the screen. It doesn’t have a name on it, just a number.

Cass quickly wrote something down on her notebook and tossed it open faced by the girl’s lap. Maia glanced at it. It read, ^I dare you to answer the call.^

Before she pressed the button, she said, “I want all of you to be quiet.” They nodded. She clicked the answer button.

“Hello? Is this Maia Petilos’s phone?” Asked a somewhat familiar voice.

“Why the fuck are you calling me?” Maia asked coldly. A hint of malice in her voice.

“Hey, so apparently, I’m supposed to let you know if I am going to travel to wherever you are. Just let me know the places you frequent, and I promise never to visit those places while both of us are in the city.”

“Wayne Manor, the mall close to Bestbuy, Bestbuy, the Five Guys on Fifth Street, and Wayne Enterprise.” Tim’s sister went right to the point.

“Okay, thank you for letting me know.”

“Why are you coming over? To Gotham I mean.”

“It’s a business trip… don’t worry, I’m not having any meetings at Wayne Enterprise.”

“Good.” She was about to hang up when he continued talking.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m sorry, for what I did to you, I really am. I know what I did was terrible and I know you will never forgive me.” Maia’s breath hitched.

“Goodbye, Ethan,” she stated with a somewhat shaky voice before her finger pressed the button. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Maia?” Asked Tim, unsure on how to approach this.

“Don’t,” said she almost threateningly. The young woman got up and walked out of the room. “Good night.” The d and t were pronounced. No one came to talk to her. They left it alone for the whole night.


	10. Tim, Maia, and Jason, or, that time when Dick uncovered Maia’s secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter refers to a character in the previous work in this series called Valery. She is featured in Dark Angel

Tim has just gotten a new apartment. With that new apartment, he got a new printer. The man had a printer back at his old place, but it was old. Maia and Jason were helping him move things.

They were done with just about everything except the throwing out the old printer.

So, what would any borderline gen z’s do? They recreate a vine.

“Jason? Can you film us please?” Tim asked after going over the plan with Maia.

“Um, sure?” The tall man stated, unsure of what shenanigans would ensue. 

“Cool.” Tim tossed him his phone. The taller male got to the camera and Maia’s brother requested, “Just say action when before you press play.”

“Uh, okay,” Jason accepted. A few seconds later, “Action.”

“Hey, can you toss me my keys?” Tim asked, with open arms. A printer came his way and he let it drop into the garbage can conveniently stowed there. He stared at the piece of machinery. “I said my keys.” Red Robin looked up.

“I thought you said printer,” Maia defended herself.

“Why the fuck would I say printer?” Tim isn’t head tilted to the side a little bit.

Knowing exactly what this was, Jason stepped the camera. “Seriously guys? A vine?”

“How the hell would you about vines?” Maia asked him.

“Oh, Y’know, just surging YouTube,” Red Hood answered. The other two both said huh at the exact same time.

All of a sudden Maia gasped and dashed to the desk.

“What are you doing?” Asked Tim.

“Do you have any crayons?” Maia asked, searching through the desk. 

“Do I look like I have crayons?” Her brother asked her.

“No… oh!” His sister whipped out a sharpie. “We can just use this.” She then handed it to Tim. “Jason start rolling when I’m out of the shot.” He did.

The camera showed Tim looking at his sharpie. All of a sudden, Maia came in asking, “Tim is that a weed?” Loudly.

Her brother looked up from the sharpie was about to say, “No this is a sharpie-“ but was cut off.

“I’m calling the police!” She then dialed 911 on the microwave. 

Off camera, Jason muttered, “911, what’s your emergency?” He then cut the vid.

The three of them were about to cease the shenanigans when they got a text from Dick saying that he just parked his car.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Maia asked.

“Yep,” said Tim as he grabbed his phone from Jason and video taped Dick getting out of his car. Drake asked off camera, “Is that a police?” He then rushed to the microwave saying, “I’m calling the weed.” The dude then punched in 4:20.

“4:20, whatcha smoking?” Jason asked off camera.

Within a few minutes, Dick knocked on the door. Tim opened it. The oldest Wayne child stepped through. “Wow, Tim, nice place,” he said as he walked around and spotted Maia standing in the kitchen. “Hey you,” he greeted and pointed to his younger sister. “Can I talk to you about something outside?”

“Um, sure.” Dick gestured for her to step outside with him. She did.

The two went outside. The tall male went in his car to grab some papers. Once he had them in his hands he gave them to Maia.

She looked over the papers carefully. They were hers and Valery’s missing children files, along with their foster care system files.

“Dick, what is this about?” She asked, starting to get worried.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you for that same question for a very long time now,” her eldest brother answered. Maia was silent. “Did you know that when Valery rejoined the Team, she had problems concerning an evil telepath working for this Cadmus-like organization?”

The girl hesitated before saying, “Yes, I did. My friends and I tried to help her, but she fled her flock and ended up in your hands. It was only when I became a part of your family did I meet the reason why.” She meant M’gann.

“Y’know, I can’t help but wonder every once in a while that you were apart of whatever messed up hell that she was.”

“So what if I am?”

“Are you admitting it?” 

Maia froze, then sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I knew one of you would find out eventually, I just didn’t know who or when.”

“So you are admitting it?”

“Why do you care?”

“W-why do I care? I’m your brother, goddamn it!” 

Little did these two know their brothers were watching this whole exchange from Tim’s balcony.

“And as your sibling, I’m asking you to drop it!” She yelled.

“Why the fuck would I do that with what Angel described it as?!” Maia knew that Valery was Dark Angel, she just always referred to her as Valery.

“And what did she describe it as?!”

Dick looked around at their surroundings before lowering his voice. “She described it as a place  _ worse _ than Cadmus. A place where she got frickin angel wings! A place that if you didn’t do what they said, you would either be mind controlled by a telepath, or psychologically tortured by a serum and a machine… please tell me that isn’t what those missing five years in these files was about.”

“I-I can’t. Th-tha period of time was so painful for me.” She started tearing up. The girl wiped away the tears that fell. “I’d appreciate it… if you didn’t tell the others.”

“Maia I don’t think-“

“ _ Please,” _ she pleaded.

“Okay, fine. But I gotta know. If Valery got angel wings, what did they do to you?”

“Th-they-they,” she geared up again. “They made me into a meta, a telekinetic.” Those words were barely said above a whisper. “When my foster mom found out, she saw that I didn’t want these powers,” Maia sobbed. “And she paid the highest dollar to get a meta dampener implant imbedded in me.”

“Maia-“ Dick tried, his facial features softening.

“Save it. I hated my power. What they made me do—what I made other people do—I just. I couldn’t handle the pain.”

Her elder brother embraced her tightly. “Alright. I’ll keep the secret. Just,” he broke the hug. “You know that you can always talk to me alright?” She nodded. “Alright. Hey, I’m sorry for bringing this up, but... I promise to keep my word.”

“Thank you.”

When Maia went back up to the apartment, Tim asked her if she was okay. She said she wasn’t and that she wanted to talk to Tim alone. The two of them ventured to his bedroom. Jason was left in the living room wondering what the fuck just happened.

“What is it, Maia?” asked Tim gently.

“Remember when you told me that you were a technopath?” She asked him in a low tone, so that Jason couldn’t hear from the other side of the door (if he even was there.)

“Yeah,” her brother nodded. “I remember you asking if I sensed a certain piece of tech in your arm, which I did. You then told me that you were a telekinetic.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not the full story,” she told him.

“I figured, but I didn’t want to pry.”

“The same place Valery told the Team she was being held at, so was I.”

“Maia-“

“Save it. I don’t want to talk about it any more than that.”

“Okay. Okay.” He allowed for her to bottle things up this time, but if a situation arises that forces her to confess, he’ll be her crutch. “It’s Tuesday, do you want to watch-?” He didn’t even need to finish that sentence for Maia to know what he meant.

“Of course,” she responded with a happy face. The two of them ventured out into the rest of the apartment where Jason asked if she was okay. Which she was, for now, anyway.

The three of them decided to go out and eat burgers and headed back to the apartment at nine p.m.

Jason said goodbye and grabbed his keys and was about to head out the door when he noticed a certain female wasn’t following him. 

“Maia?” He called, “Are you coming? I thought you needed a ride back to the manor.” He then stepped backwards into the apartment to find both Tim and Maia sitting on the couch setting something up.

“Oh, uh, no, I’ll just stay here for the night. Besides, it’s Hawaii Five-0 night.” Maia said, turning her head back to look at Jason. “We don’t go online with the others when it’s Hawaii Five-0 night.”

“Really?” Asked Jason. “But Tim doesn’t do this when it’s Tuesday.” The tall man was now three feet away from the couch.

“That’s because I didn’t have my darling sister to watch it with,” Tim responded, not looking from the screen as he pressed buttons on the remote to find the new recordings of the show.

“Aww,” Maia said whole snuggling into her brothers side, pulling a blanket over the both of them. The two of them caught up with the series on their own time, but then they are together, they have to watch it on Tuesdays. It’s just what they do. The young woman turned her head to meet Jason’s again. “Why don’t you stay with us? You’ll like this show.”

“Uhhh, okay.” He then got into his phone and typed in the group chat: ^will be late for patrol.^ the man plopped down onto the couch making the cushions bounce.

The three of them watched as the show started with a guy getting murdered. Which of course, grabbed Jason’s attention. He then wondered why his siblings didn’t reach to grab the remote to skip the intro. But it was over in forty seconds and that answered his question. The storyline wasn’t too hard to follow. A police task force called Five-0 solves the murder while also dealing with a more person side story. He could see why his two younger siblings enjoyed it so much. He might have to start coming over on Tuesdays so he can watch this with them.


	11. Hidden Things Come to Light Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, I haven't posted on this fic in a long while. Well, I'm back and have new chapters!

Maia had just been involved in a car crash. Someone wasn’t looking and rammed right into her and friends. No one lost their lives, but people got injured. Maia received a few cracked ribs and a broken leg and head trauma for one thing. She was knocked unconscious. The families of the other kids arrived first. When the family arrived at the hospital, they were informed of something they didn’t expect.

“Mr. Wayne?” A Doctor asked as she came into the waiting room.

“Yes?” He said, standing up. The two of them went away from the others to talk privately.

“Your daughter is fine, she just received some head trauma, cracked ribs, and a broken leg,” she informed. Bruce gave out a sigh of relief. “But,” she continued. “We found scars on her back and on the tops of her arms, and there’s some device implanted in her left arm. We haven’t figured out what it might be…. Do you, by any chance, know how she got those scars and a metal implant?”

Wayne stared wide-eyes at the floor. This was definitely news to him. He looked up. “Uh, no, no, this is the first time I’m hearing this.”

The doctor merely nodded, hummed, and said, “I’ll let you know when she’s conscious,” before starting to walk away.

Wayne grabbed her arm. “Wait, Miss, are you planning on removing it? The implant?”

“We can’t. We don’t know how long it’s been there. Removing it can cause permanent nerve damage.”

His grip let up, and she walked away saying, “I’m sorry.”

How the hell was he going to relay this to his children? She’s been lying to us the entire time? No, it doesn’t seem like that. No. Yes. She was withholding information about herself? Yeah, let’s go with that. When he came back to the waiting room, his kids noticed and stood up. How is she? They asked.

“She’s fine,” Bruce told them. “But, uhm, did any of you ever notice scars on her back and arms?”

A chorus of “Nos” “Nopes” follows his question, along with the comment of, “It’s not like she shows much skin.” 

Then, Stephanie gasped, as if coming to a realization. “That’s why she didn’t by a dress that wasn’t strapless or open-back!” A realization, that will be ignored.

Bruce held his chin as if deep in thought. “I know this might sound weird to you,” he said. “But has she mentioned having an implant in her arm to any of you?”

None of them spoke for at least ten seconds. They all looked around at each other. “No, I don’t think we have,” stated Tim (he’s lying, but he’s not going to admit that to anyone. Him and his sister made a promise that they would never tell about each other’s abilities to anyone. The implant is a part of that promise.) The others shook their heads. Dick is also lying. He confronted her about something related to this a few weeks back. He promised her that he wouldn’t say anything to the family.

Tim leaned forward in his chair in thought. Then an idea came to him. “Hey, you guys remember Valery—er Dark Angel, right?”

A few yeahs were heard.

“Okay, good, because she is—or at least I’m pretty sure she is Maia’s girlfriend. Those two have had a history, I’m sure. They have similar missing children files, and when they came back to society, they refused to be separated. They were even put in the same foster home.” Tim really didn’t feel like doing this, but he felt like he had to act like his normal self.

“And Angel has something to do with this because?” Dick questioned. He already knew, he was just playing along.

“Remember when her, Leo and our sister FaceTimed each other in the car?”

“Yes?” The eldest son recalled, not sure where his younger sibling is going with this, also surprised that his brother remembered Leo (because he didn’t).

“Well, anyway, Valery asked Maia if she told us yet, about two separate things… it’s safe to say that one of those was about her sexuality, and the other, could have been about the scars and implant.”

“Well, I mean that would make sense,” Dick considered.

The atmosphere fell into silence again. And it stayed that way until the doctor came back.

“She’s awake,” was all she said before leading them to her room.

When they got there, they saw her sitting up, with her back against the pillows.

“Hey guys,” she said, sort of cheerily.

“I’ll leave you guys alone,” the doctor stated.

“Oh, no, wait!” Maia said. The doctor stopped in her tracks. “If a boy by the name of Ethan Murphy comes by as a visitor to me, just don’t let him in here.” 

Cass glanced at Maia, recognizing the boy’s name. She thought, _“That’s the boy who called her weeks ago.”_

“I need a reason in order to do that,” the doctor stated.

“I have a restraining order against him.”

 _“And that’s why he called,”_ Cass thought

“Of course,” the woman said before walking away.

The room was silent. The atmosphere was heavy. Maia could tell that they knew about the scars and implants. That fact, just made her want to curl up into a ball. Make herself smaller than she already is. She refrained from doing that for now. 

Then there’s the added fact of the restraining order, but maybe that won’t come up? Just maybe? She hopes.

“So, I guess they told you?” Maia started the conversation, very unsure of where this will go.

“Yeah,” said Jason. “Yeah, they did.” He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. Neither Dick nor Tim chose to say anything as silence engulfed the room. They wanted Maia to tell the group herself. Heck, they don’t even know that the other knows what they know.

“When were you going to tell us?” Damian asked, frustrated about this entire situation.

“You were never supposed to know. About the implant I mean.” their sister hugged her knees. “Y’all would have found the scars eventually. But even then, half of the scars are linked to the reason I got the implant. There was no way I could spin a web of lies about the scars and not mention the implant.”

Nothing was said. They were all waiting for her to go on.

“Although,” she continued. “The scars on the tops of my arms near my shoulders… those are from the sad times.”

“The sad times?” Tim questioned, now deeply concerned for his sister's mental health. Although all things considered with what he knew, it would have made sense for her to not be all that okay in the head.

“Yeah….. we don’t talk about the sad times …”

“Okay, what about the implant?” Jason asked her.

That question only made Maia hug her legs tighter. Her eyes started watering, her breathing hitched. Their sister didn’t want them to see her cry, so she buried her face in her thighs. 

When Bruce tried to touch her shoulder, she shuttered away. “Maia-” he tried. He hated seeing his daughter like this. All of them did.

“Is it still in my arm?” She asked, not lifting her head. She heard no answer. “Is it?!” she half yelled, lifting her head this time. They saw how her new family member’s eyes were red from crying.

“Yes, it’s still in your arm,” Damian answered her. She seemed so relieved. He walked up to the bed and sat next to his sister. “Maia, we need to know what happened.” This was all very peculiar to her little brother. He just doesn’t get why she won’t tell them upfront what’s going on.

“Not here,” Maia told him. “They could be watching, listening.”

“Who?” asked Jason. “Maia, who could be watching us?”

“Them.”

“Who’s them, Maia?” Jason asked not so gently, a small seed of anger and hatred on his voice. He swears he’ll kill the people who did this to her.

“Cadmus,” she said softly. Audible gasps could be heard from everyone.

“Maia-“ it was Barbara’s voice.

“That’s all I can say. I can’t—I-I c-can’t say an-n-hic-ymore.” Tears started to well up in her eyes again. “If I do, then me, and my friends, hic, we’re dead.”

Bruce had to think for a moment. Whatever went down while she wasn’t a part of his life, must have really shaken her up. She isn’t exactly cooperating with them, and her mother is dead. Who would he be able to talk to about this? He already tried to find other members of her biological family. They’re either dead, missing, or don’t want to be found. Maybe he can find her foster father? It was either him or her friends. He knows he can just search her up on the system and her foster home would show up, but how was he going to search for her friends? She didn’t exactly tell her family their full names. Maybe he could look through her contacts?

Sure do that. He’ll have Tim hack into Cadmus’s systems, see what they have on Maia.

But first, two more things need to be sorted out. First, “Dick, Tim, the two of you seem awfully quiet with how close you two are to Maia,” Bruce noticed.

The two boys looked at each other, not realizing that they both know. “We, um,” Tim started, unsure how to carry through with the sentence.

“We found out on our own what happened to her,” Dick finished.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” asked their father, enunciating the t in didn’t.

“I told them not to tell anyone,” Maia confessed. Tears still streaming down her face. The girl’s voice was calmer now. “I wasn’t ready for anyone else to know.”

Bruce sighed. “And, why do you have a restraining order against a boy? And how come we never knew about it?” The man asked his daughter.

 _“Damn it,”_ she cursed in her mind. “I,” she said with a shaker voice. “I was... sexually harassed by him.” Cassandra and Stephanie gasped while Barbara covered her mouth. Damian’s clenched fists were becoming tighter. Everyone else looked at her with shock, pity, and sadness. “I was thirteen. This was still in Los Angeles.” She remembered.

Tim fit some more pieces of the puzzle together. When she was thirteen and still in the foster home. Sometime around when she got the implant, most likely after. A boy named Ethan raped her. Because she had the implant, she couldn’t fight back.

Jason looked at her with a pained expression. The boy with the white-streaked hair couldn’t stand it anymore. These people need to pay. They have to pay. They were the source of her nightmares, he just knew it. He just fell into the bed and hugged her tightly. More tears started to stream down her face and stained his clothes.

*Wait, why isn’t that boy, um, Ethan, in prison?* Cass signed, a thoughtful look on her face. That’s a good point.

The girl scoffed. *What, are you kidding?* Maia questioned in BSL, the tears were gone. *A middle-class hailing brown-skinned girl against a very wealthy white boy. Who wins?*

The room fell silent. They could all understand BSL. Jason’s hold on his sister became tighter. Bruce rubbed his face in his hands. The room hung in that awkward silence for the longest time.


	12. Hidden Things Come To Light Part 2

When they got back from the hospital (without their sister), Bruce immediately went to the Bat cave. Everyone else except for Jason followed. He was tasked with getting Maia’s phone back from the crash. Before Jason arrived to the Bat Cave with the phone, Tim took up hacking into Cadmus’s system. In Tim’s opinion, it was harder than NASA, SpaceX, and The Pentagon. It also took way longer than he initially thought.

About four hours later, Jason came back with Maia’s phone. Bruce tasked himself with talking with her foster father, while he tasked Babs, and Dick with talk to her friends. Bruce’s conversation with the foster dad went along the lines of this:

“Mr. Lyon-Smith?” Bruce checked if he was talking to the right person.

“Yes, this is he, who is this?” The man asked.

“I’m Bruce Wayne.” Lyon-Smith gasped. “Maia Petilos’s biological father,” the rich man added. “I just have a couple of questions about my daughter’s past. She won’t tell us much.”

“Oh, um, Mr. Wayne…wow, I can’t believe I’m talking to Bruce Wayne,” he mumbled. “There really isn’t that much to tell. The child services found her wandering the streets with a girl named Valery Cerone when they were thirteen. Um, before that, from the time she was seven to the time she turned thirteen, the girl was missing, and her mother killed. No other relatives were found. That’s all I am able to tell you.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Mr. Wayne, neither me, nor my late wife, nor any of the child service workers knew what had happened to those kids during those years. We are just as in the dark, as you are.”

“I see … then I’m guessing you had no idea about the implant? Or the scars?”

“Oh, um, actually, I do know about the implant, and some of the scars. The ones on her arms.”

“What can you tell me about the implant?”

“Well, if you didn’t know this already, our-your daughter is a metahuman. I don’t know if she was born one, or if she was turned into one by science in the years she was missing, but I know that she hated her power and wanted to get rid of it… the implant is a power dampener. I don’t know anything else.”

“Thank you for your time.”

Mr. Lyon-Smith, telling that he was about to hang up, asked, “Wait, Mr. Wayne. What exactly has she gotten herself into?”

“Nothing yet, besides a car crash.” Wayne sighed. “Thank you, again for your help.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Wayne.”

The first people Babs and Dick talked to were Valery and Leo. It was just their luck that the two of them were in the same room together. When the call got through, Valory’s voice sounded loud and clear.

“Hey, Mai-Mai, what’s up?” She asked.

“Uhm,” Babs started nervously. “I’m sorry, this isn’t Maia.” The call immediately changed to FaceTime. Valery took a long hard look at the two on the other side of the screen.

“Okay, by your tone I’m guessing that you didn’t kidnap Maia,” Valery notes.

“W-why would she be kidnapped?” Dick asked.

Valery looked to Leo who shrugged. She then sighed and said, “Where is she? Did she run away?”

“No. We’re her siblings. She loves us. Why would she run away?”

“Oh, okay, well then... where is she?”

“She’s resting in the hospital,” Barbara informed them, making both teen’s eyes widen.

“Oh my god is she okay?!?!” They both yelled.

“Yeah, she’s fine, but we-um,” Babs considered her words carefully. “The doctors found an implant in her left arm as well as scarring on her back and arms. They haven’t removed the implant yet, and I don’t think they’re going to.”

Both Valery’s and Leo’s expressions became more worried than they already were.

“See,” Dick continued. “We were wondering if you knew anything about that.”

Valery looked to Leo with what seemed like a pleasing glance. His lips became a thin line. He shrugged again, but this time his arms rose higher.

Valery sighed. “We actually,” she paused. “We do know all about those… I have those same scars on my back, almost, but not the implant… what they did to me, to us, it’s unforgivable, but telling you before she does might betray her trust… Besides, we can’t tell you over the phone.”

Babs and Dick glanced at each other.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to…” Dick informed them.

“Just, look after her,” Valery told them. “That’s all I ask.”

“Of course.”

So that one turned out to be a dead end. Maybe they’ll be able to connect the dots. Somehow.

For now, though, it’s on to her other friends. They remember her yelling at a different person for breaking into her apartment. What was his name? Ichi-something? 

Anyway, they call him, and the boy’s first words were, “Maia? What’s wrong? I’m usually the one to call you.”

“This actually… isn’t Maia, this is her older sibling and a family friend,” Dick answered.

Believing them against his better judgment, Ichi asked, “And why do you have her phone? Should I be worried?” 

“We were just wondering if you know anything about the implant in Maia’s left arm,” Barbara voiced.

“If you’re asking me, then that means neither Valery nor Leo told you anything,” the boy gathered. “And by that logic, it means that Maia wants to be the one who tells you. And by not telling you, both Val and Leo keep her trust. So, I am also willing to keep her trust and keep my lips sealed. I wouldn’t bother going to Rae for help if you don’t know sign language, and besides, she would come to the same conclusion that I did… Sorry dudes.” With that, Maia’s friend hung up.

Babs and Dick looked at each other. The woman sighed. They could try to talk to Rae, but that would go nowhere fast if Ichi-whatever-his-name-was is right about her.

The phone calls with her friends had gotten them nowhere. Bruce had to have been getting better luck with talking to Maia’s foster father.

Maybe Tim’s hit a snag as well. He’s been trying to hack into Cadmus’s systems for a while.


	13. The Visits

Maia had to stay in the hospital for one more day, then she could come home. During that day, she got a visit from Conner. Guess he must have heard from one of the Robins.

He stepped into the room and noticed she was reading. “Hey,” he said. “What are you reading?” She lifted up the book so he could see the cover. As it turns out, she’s reading the last book of the Maximum Ride series. 

Her foster mother gave her the first book in the series when she was taken in by her. Over the five years, she spent in the house with her late foster mother, moved up in the series. She is on the ninth and final book, _Maximum Ride, Forever._ She had Todd get the book from her room.

Maia’s always enjoyed the books in this series and somehow felt a little bit connected to them. They were taken away from their parents, experimented on, grew wings, gained abilities and escaped. Only for their quiet off the grid life to be interrupted by people hunting them. The plot then goes off from there.

The girl then marked her page via a bookmark and closed it. She then looked at her visited saying, “Hey.”

“How are you holding up?” He asked, standing awkwardly by the door.

“I’m fine…” she said, turning her head towards him. “That…” she glanced down. “was not how I wanted them to find out. Do you… do you even know what it is?”

“I can take a guess, but I won’t judge… How did you want it to go anyway?” He asked, finally sitting hunched over in a chair. The boy’s hands gathered together.

“They would have found out about the scars eventually, but I didn’t want them to find out about the implant.” The girl barely made eye contact.

“What would you have said about the scars?” Maia swallowed.

She contemplated this for a minute, twiddling her thumbs. “I can already rule out parental abuse..."

“I would have also not wanted them to find out about the scars at all,” she confessed, her head slightly tilted to the side in thought. Her eyes looking towards the ceiling. “That would have been nice.”

He didn’t react to that, just kept his gaze steady towards her. “And why wouldn’t they find out? You’re a part of their family, and they care about you. That much is true from Tim alone,” the half Kryptonian stated, remembering the night of the event. How he asked her why Maia was crying.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I guess… maybe, maybe it’s because we’re all broken, and maybe I could pretend to be the one who isn’t. I couldn’t-didn’t want to burden them with one more broken person.”

“You know you can’t think like that, right? Three of them are detectives and one of them is a computer genius. Cass would have known you had something to his by body language alone.”

“I know, I just, I just… I don’t know, I-“ her words died in her throat.

“No, I get it. I know how you feel.” He paused. “Though I gotta ask, why is it there?”

“I thought you said no judgment.”

“I won’t, I was just wondering.”

“It’s there,” she released a long breath she didn’t know she had. “to block my telekinetic powers… Before you say anything, you don’t have any idea what they made me do, what I made other people do. I hate it. If there was a cure for this, I honestly would take it.”

“Alright.” Was all said, nodding slightly.

“See? You’re judging,” she said, her voice slightly raised.

“I wasn’t.” He leaned back and put his hands up in defense. “Honestly.” He then looked at the clock and sighed. “I have to go.”

 _“How convenient,”_ Maia thought as she frowned.

He stood up. “I meant to give you this last time we met, but here,” he said holding a small piece of paper in his hands towards her. “That’s my number. If you ever want to talk. I’ll answer.”

Maia took the piece of paper. “Thank you... for visiting me, I really appreciate it.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome.” Conner stopped in his tracks and turned back to face her, “Oh, and I’m staying somewhere close to the manor by the way.” With that, he left.

A few minutes later, a girl rushed into the room. Valery. “Maia!” She yelled before rushing to her side, the girl’s wings also semi hugging her. Her wings are what Cadmus did to her. Maia became a telekinetic, while Valery developed wings. Peregrine Falcon wings.

“Hey,” Maia said gently. “Hey,” she said again breaking the hug. “What are you doing here?” Her hands were still on Valery’s shoulders.

“When your siblings called on your phone, I got so worried.” Her speech was slightly rushed. “I flew off without a second thought. I guess I should have told people before I left. Oh my god, I left Leo at the park! I should contact him. Actually, I think he tried to call me when I was flying over here I should check my phone-“

She didn’t get to finish her sentence, as soft lips covered hers. Maia was kissing her. Valery closed her eyes and deeper the kiss before both of them broke apart.

“Babe,” Maia stated. “I’m sure everything’s going to be fine,” she reassured her girlfriend. “I mean, come on, it’s Leo. Are we that worried about him?” Valery laughed.

“Wait,” Maia said in thought, her eyebrows knitting together. “Did you just say my siblings contacted you on _my_ phone?” Val nodded. “Wha-what did they say?”

“They were just asking about if we knew about the implant in your arm,” Maia’s girlfriend answered. The Wayne child’s eyes widened.

“And what did you say?” She asked, eager to hear her response.

“I only told them that telling them before you did would have been a betrayal of trust, and I didn’t want to do that. Neither I, nor Leo did. And judging by that logic, neither did Ichigo or Rae.”

Maia smiled. “Thank you,” she said, pecking her lips.

“Hey, are you going to be okay?” Valery asked.

“Well, I will be, now that you’re here.”

“Awww.” The two hugged. “Hey, listen, I should probably go stay at a hotel and buy new clothes and all that shit,” Val stayed while breaking g the hug. “And I should probably do that before it gets dark.”

“Y-yeah,” Maia nodded. “Okay.”

“Just call me... if you need anything. Please,” Val requested while walking backward.

“Will do,” Maia confirmed.

The winged human then turned around and almost hit the door frame. With a breathy laugh, she turned back to her partner still laying in the bed. The two smiled at each other as Valery left the room.

Just thinking about her made her smile, and laugh a bit. Valery can be all over the place sometimes. A lot of those times being that she leaped before she looked. Maia was always the one who was organized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry for making this a short chapter.  
> Also: Valery! for those of you who haven't read the first part of this series, that is where this character came from.


	14. The elevator

They sent Jason, Damian and Cassandra to get her, everyone else wished they could, but they were just so busy. Jason even thought to bring Maia her phone as it was given to him after he had seen her in the hospital. However, when they were on the elevator going down, it stopped. They are now trapped in a small confined space for what could be hours. Maia wasn’t too happy about that, seeing as she curled up into a ball again. She must be scared of small enclosed spaces.

“Welp, we might be here for hours,” Jason stated, stretching a little. He then gave Maia her phone. The girl uttered a small thanks.

“Obviously,” Damian retorted.

 _“It’s not shrinking,”_ Maia reminded herself. _“You’re not back in that stupid cage. You’re not back in that hell hole. You’re here, in an elevator with your siblings.”_

Noticing that her sister was staring off into the void, Cass nudged her slightly. “Hey, you okay?”

She could say yes, it would be easier on her if she said so, but a larger percentage of her brain was telling her to voice the truth. 

“No,” the younger woman stated. “I just abundantly dislike small enclosed spaces.”

“Hey, Maia?” Asked Damian.

“Yeah, Dami?” She questioned, turning her head to him.

“I thought you said you greatly disliked the girls at your school and preferred to hang out with guys.” Maia gave an uh huh. “So then why are you ‘friends’ with Valery?” The boy used air quotes when saying friends.

“We… went through something people can’t fully come back from,” Maia answered, careful not to reveal everything. “It made us close friends.”

“Yeah, close enough to kiss each other,” Jason teased.

Maia jabbed him in the side saying playfully, “Shut up.”

All of a sudden, Maia’s phone started ringing. When she looked at the screen, she turned to Jason. “Hey Jay, can you hold the phone up for me?”

“Uh, sure, why?” He asked, taking the device and facing it towards his younger sister.

“You’ll see.” She then tapped the phone once. The girl waved at the screen and started using hand gestures. 

*Hey Rae,* their sister signed.

*Hey,* Rae signed back. *Did you hear what happened to the girls bathrooms at our school?* She’s talking about the private school Valery and Maia used to attend back in L.A. Rae goes there now.

*No. You and Valery are the only girls I keep in touch with, so it’s not like news comes fast. Anyway what happened?* Maia signed already having an idea of what it might be.

*The girls bathrooms all have locks on them now.*

Maia laughed before continuing. *Oh really? What’d you do?*

*I wasn’t connected to it in any way, but some of the girls kept drawing cartoons on the walls.*

The Wayne child’s eyes widened and her brows raised. *Really? And that’s why they locked it? For that? Dude, the boy’s bathroom is locked for worse.*

*I know right? Here comes some equality, I guess… So how’s life?*

*Kind of good, I guess?* Their sister scrunched her brow slightly in thought.

*You guess?*

*Well, yeah, I got into a car accident, a few hours later, my family finds out about the implant, and now me and my siblings are stuck in the elevator.*

*Holy shit dude. I’m so sorry.* Rae is the only one who knows about what happened to her and Valery besides Leo, and a few other boys she knows in the school. 

*Yeah, it’s alright though. I think I might tell them what happened to me, but I don’t know. Cadmus could be listening... or watching.* Quickly, she checked the elevator for security cameras. There were none.

*Do you think they tracked you all the way to New Jersey?*

Maia scoffed slightly. *Oh god, I hope not.*

All of a sudden, Rae’s eyes were turned away from the camera. They scanned something, then returned their gaze to Maia. *Alright, I got to go, sign to you later.*

*Yeah. Later.*

With that, Maia hung up and took her phone back from her brother. They’ve seen her do sign language before, but this one seemed a little different. This one was American Sign Language. They were so used to her speaking English Sign Language with Cass that they forgot that their sister also spoke ASL.

“So, Wait, how do you know American sign language?” Jason asked.

“My old school offered it as a language class,” she answered, pocketing in her phone.

*Cool. I was taught ESL by Alfred. It was a point in time where I moved into the manor before I was actually adopted.*

*Or really?* Maia signed in ESL.

*Yeah.*

Maia glanced at Jason who looked so confused.

“What? I only know a little bit, it’s hard to follow along with you two,” he told her. The right corner of her lip twitched upwards in a smirk for a second.

*What other languages do you know?* Cass asked, shifting the position of her legs.

“Besides ASL and ESL, I know Spanish, Tagalog, Mandarin, and Javanese, French, and Dutch.”

“Nice.”

Maia heard a sound coming from the ceiling. Upon looking up, she saw a figure open the hatch. The figure kneeled down to reveal an agent of Cadmus, and a familiar one too.

“Well well,” he said. “Looks like we picked the right elevator.”

“What are you doing here?” Maia asked.

“Well isn’t it obvious? We came to get our girl back.”

Maia’s brows furrowed. She really wished she could use her power right then and there. She could make him fall and hit his head. She can make him stab his chest with his own knife.

“Too bad your foster mom paid pretty heavy money for that metahuman dampener implant you have.”

The Wayne child’s eyes widened.

“Oh yeah, we know about that too. In fact, we can kill your siblings right now and here. All you have to do,” he knelt down and outstretched his hand. “Is take my hand.”

The sound of the elevator door being pried open brought Maia out of her imagination. She looked to the hallway. The group wasn’t too far up from the ground. 

One by one they were all helped out of the elevator. Maia was helped out first because she was closest to the door, is injured and has Claustrophobia. 

Then it was Damian, next was Jason and finally Cass.

After all of them were out, they were ready to go to the car, but one of the firemen was chatting up a storm with Jason.

Maia tried to walk away fast, unwilling to not-not think of this as just an accident. One of Cadmus’s people could have caused this. They could have found her. They could have orchestrated this entire thing. 

But if they had, then wouldn’t they have come to get her already? The time for that had passed. Cadmus could have grabbed her from her hospital bed and broke her out. Unless they were trying to grab her from the elevator, which they failed at.

Unless….

“Excuse me miss?” A Custodian came up to her. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking. “You can’t be back here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” she said, as she quickly walked away from the man, thinking he might be an agent.

In no time at all, she found her siblings and they left for the car.

Maia couldn’t help but imagine Cadmus causing a crash in the parking garage. They’d crash into their car with the van and once the car stopped moving, they’d locate her and pull her out of the crash, leaving her siblings to die.

But that didn’t happen. It was just her wild imagination. What actually happened was that they made it to the manor safely.


	15. the Video

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in italics is the video. Not in italics is everything else.

When Maia arrived at the Batcave, Tim had successfully hacked into Cadmus’s server. He found a video that he decided to show the rest of the group.

“Whatcha got?” Dick asked his little brother.

Tim placed his laptop on the computer and synced it to the Bat Cave monitor. “Just this video, I thought you guys would want to see this,” Drake answered.

The screen of the giant monitor in the cave switched to that of a security cam in what looked to be a lab of some sort. 

_There were two white coats. Maia walked into the room._

_“Good morning,” said the female in the lab coat. “Do you know why you are here today?”_

_“I disobeyed direct field orders, again,” Maia answered._

_“You know the drill,” the woman said._

_Without much prompting, Maia walked over to the chair and sat in it. The male in the lab coat got the headgear all set. The girl closed her eyes. The man then injected her with a strange liquid._

_The white coats started saying something, but it was inaudible._

“I’ll pull up what she sees,” Drake told.

“What do you mean what she sees?” Stephanie asked.

“You’ll see.”

Tim, made the security footage smaller and pulled up this other footage. The camera seemed to through the perspective of their sister.

It was at this point that the group arrived in the Batcave from the hospital, but they didn’t say anything, Maia included.

_The camera showed Maia running in a neighborhood. She then entered a house through the front door. “Mom! I’m home!” She called. There was no answer. “Mom!” She tried again._

_The next part of the house she went to was in the living room. A man, a detective, was standing in front of her mother, who sat on the couch with her hands gathered in her lap. A box of tissues was at her side. Tears glinted her eyes._

_“And when was the last time you saw her?” The man asked._

_“About a few hours ago. She said she was going on a walk,” her mother answered._

_“Mom, I’m right here,” Maia stated, a hint of desperation in her voice. Her mother didn’t respond. “Mom,” she tried again, walking closer to them. “Hey, come on, I’m right here!”_

_They didn’t notice her. They just kept on talking. The detective asked her questions, and her mother answered them._

_“Mom!” She shouted. Still no answer. “Mom!” This time, her voice became echoey. In a fit of desperation, she threw one of the pottery pieces on the ground. It shattered._

_Both the detective and her mom’s heads turned towards the crash. “I wonder what caused that,” her mother said as she got up and gathered the shattered pottery into a little pile._

_“Hey,” Maia tried again. Her mother didn’t notice her. “Hey!” She shouted, but to no avail. The girl groaned in frustration and ran out of the house._

_It was night outside, and she found herself on Ventura._

_A thirty or so looking man was asking people around if they had seen a girl with Maia’s description. He was holding her picture._

_“Dean!” She shouted. He didn’t seem to hear. She ran closer to him yelling his name again. “Dean!” He still didn’t hear her._

_“Hey!” She tried again. “I’m right here, damn it!” Still nothing. “Damn it, you jerk. I’m right here!”_

_Tears clouded her vision as she ran off again. Until all of a sudden, something invisible. She turned to run the other way, but it too was blocked by an invisible force. All of a sudden, she’s in a dark warehouse in a lit glass box. She feels it shrinking._

_“Hello!!” She tried to yell for help. “Anyone there!!” The cage kept getting smaller. “Help!” No one came to her aid._

_Then she felt it, a strange wet sensation at her feet. The girl looked down. Water. “Shit!” She cursed under her breath._

_The clear liquid was rising fast. Too fast. Pretty soon, she got to the top of the tank and breathed in the little amount of air left._

_Now, she’s completely submerged. She tried and tried to kick herself free of the tank, but the glass wouldn’t break. She must have kicked it at least a hundred times before she eventually ran out of air and lost consciousness._

_Next, she woke up on a burning hill. All over the hillside, the brush was engulfed by flames._

_Second, by second it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She started coughing and wheezing._

_With nothing else to do, she ran in one direction and didn’t look back._

_Yet, for some reason, the flames didn’t disappear. Instead, they rose higher, and higher, and higher, each direction she ran off to._

_Eventually, she screamed as she felt herself being burned into nothingness._

The security footage showed her waking up with a gasp while the other footage cut to black.

“Oh my god,” Stephanie muttered to herself for what must have been the millionth time.

“Yeahhhh. That wasn’t fun,” Maia stated, revealing her position amongst them.

A few of them tried to go up to her and give her a hug, but she shied away from them saying, “Stop looking at me like that! I don’t need your pity,” in a standoffish way.

She spent the remainder of the day in the garden outside in the backyard. That is... until an idea struck her. She hasn’t spoken to Dean in a very long while. He’s gotta be at least forty now. 

Now pacing, she tried to remember that man’s phone number. It took her a minute, but when she finally remembered it, she dialed the number.

“Hello?” Asked a gruff voice. Maia couldn’t believe this actually worked. “Uh, hello?” The voice asked again. Maia must have been silent for too long.

“Uh, yes, hello. Is this Dean Winchester?” Maia asked.

“Yes. Who is this?” Dean asked.

“This is Maia Petilos.”

There was a slight hesitation before the man asked. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”

“My name… is Maia Lola Sofia Petilos.”

“I-I-Where are you? Are you safe?” Were his next questions.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m at home.”

“I’ll drive to L.A. as soon as I can.”

“Um, actually, I live in Gotham now. You drive over to the Wayne Manor, I’ll tell the butler that I’m expecting you.” She quickly walked inside.

“Why the hell are you involved with the Waynes?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell it to you when you get here. Call me… when you do, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

The call ended. Not really sure what she was going to do with herself now, she went over to the piano. All she wanted to do was feel somewhat happier. Hmmmm… 

Maybe… yes. The Entertainer it is. Her hands floated over the high keys as she played the first six notes, then the next and then the next. The tune guided itself into that old west saloon tune everyone was familiar with. It was only a three-minute song, but she was glad to have played it. 

Still not done with her time on the grand instrument, she decided to play Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. A more complicated song, but it still had the same effect on her. However, because of its more challenging nature, to Maia, it’s more fun for her to play it. The girl knows that by now one or two of them had made it out of the cave in search of consoling their sister, as she recognized Tim’s frame out of the corner of her eye. He leaned over the top of the piano at the other end. She knew that he was looking directly at her. Over her playing, she could hear him say hello. As soon as her playing of the song concluded, she said hi back. 

Not another word was said as she went into playing her next song.


	16. The Other Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted to this in a while! I've been caught up with life, schoolwork and other projects. Here's the next chapter!

A few days later, when Maia came down for breakfast this morning, she was shocked to find Dick wearing nothing but Robin’s green underwear and a cooking apron which had lettering on it reading: kiss the cook. He’s making scrambled eggs.

“Is that the original?” Tim asked, who had also just come into the kitchen. He had taken his phone out to take a picture of this.

“Nah it was too small,” Jason answered. 

“What the fuck?” Maia asked out loud.

Dick turned his head saying, “Oh hey Maia.” He then returned his focus on the stove. “Why don’t you grab a seat?”

She did and patiently waited for breakfast to be served, all the while tapping her foot like the anxious person she was. Dean should be coming around any day now. She tried not to question her brother’s choice of clothing. 

A few hours later, a 1969 Black Chevy Impala came to the gate. Knowing that Maia has a guest coming at some point with the same car, he allowed him in. 

She didn’t really know much about Dean Winchester. The only thing that she remembers is that he helped her fight monsters. Although she only met him thrice while she still lived with her mom in L.A. this was before she was taken in that van. She doesn’t even know how she remembered the man’s phone number.

Now, the woman waited for him on the front steps to the house. Once he got out of the car, he said, “Maia?” He didn’t seem to recognize her.

“That’s me,” she said, walking up to him. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She smiled at him. He wore virtually the same clothes she remembered him wearing. The jacket, the flannel, even the same color pants.

“Let’s take a walk, shall we?” She suggested, turning to head through the side yard gate.

“Fine with me,” he said. 

“So how’s life?” She asked him as they walked along the path.

“It’s alright. We get by.”

“We?” Her face turned to look at him. A neutral expression on her face.

“Oh,” he glanced at the ground and smiled slightly. “That’s right, you don’t know. I have a brother. He was in college when I took that job for your mom.”

Maia knew that one of her siblings was most likely watching her through the windows. She made sure to pay them no mind.

“How’d you end up here anyway?” He asked her. They were now getting into the back yard area.

“Oh, well, five years after I was kidnapped, I managed to escape and got into a foster home. For a few years, I stayed with them, then when my foster mom had a car accident, I gave the doctors my blood to see if we were a match. She needed a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a match, but I was able to find out that my biological father is Bruce Wayne.”

“So that was the rich guy she fell in love with,” Dean thought out loud. He then looked at the house and gestured to it, saying, “Oh, right.”

Maia chose to let that comment go. “So, I remember that you were with my mom… when I was kidnapped-“

“Maia,” Dean stopped her, stopping in his tracks as well. The young woman did the same. “I never stopped searching for you. Although, granted the routes I took to find you were often supernatural and gang focused…” he trailed off. 

_“That’s right,” she thought. “Mom hunted monsters.”_ She smiled at him and gave him a hug. “Thank you,” she told him. “She probably greatly appreciated the effort.”

“Yeah,” he sighed.

All of a sudden, behind the giant hedge wall, they heard voices. “Stop leaning into my personal space, Drake!” Damian?

“Hey, you grabbed the better vantage point,” Tim argued.

Maia rolled her eyes and sighed, picking up two small rocks from the ground. She then chucked the objects right onto their faces. Both of them reacting with an, “Ow!”

“Sorry about that,” Maia apologized on behalf of her siblings. “My brothers are overprotective and curious.”

“Well, I am a stranger to them,” Dean told her.

“But not to me.” They walked for a little while in silence before she asked, “You know what? It’s weird, I never really thought about what my mom did for a living. Hell, I never even asked how she met my dad.”

“I can fill both of those in for you,” the man stated. Her silence told him to go ahead. “Your mom, like me, took cases and fought monsters. In a particular case, we had to infiltrate this very fancy rich guy party. That’s where Lydia and Mr. Wayne first met.”

Maia smiled. That was the first time she heard anyone other than her and her father speak her mom’s name.

“Although to be honest,” Dean continued speaking. “It was unclear if he figured out what we did for a living.”

“I see.” Knowing her dad, he probably did find out but didn’t mind. Maybe he even protected her from the FBI. Those who hunt monsters are always investigated by the feds.

All of a sudden, Dean’s phone rang. He started to walk back to the gate. Maia followed. When the call ended he turned to her and said, “Sorry Maia, I got a case.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Go kick some monster’s butt.” To that, Dean smiles slightly.

Then, he looked as though he remembered something. Out of his pocket, he pulled a necklace. There was one singular pendant. It was small. It consisted of a pentagram. Around that, is a ring of what resembled flames. “Here. Lydia would want you to have this.”

“Thank you,” Maia said, taking the necklace. She put it on.

“It was good to uh, see you,” he said. She knew that he might as well have said meet you, as he only knew her when she was a little girl.

“Yeah, good to see you,” she repeated. The young woman watched the man get back into his car before going inside.

“So, who was that anyway?” Dick questioned. He sat on the couch on his phone. They all knew some guy was coming to meet with her, they just didn’t know more than that. And Tim and Damian’s little scouting mission failed.

“He was one of my mom’s friends,” his sister answered.

“He looked like the guy who you saw in that weird nightmare thing,” Tim told her, not looking up from his computer.

“Yeah well, he was around when I was captured. Not sure if he was around to save her though.” She was about to head up to her room when she remembered something. "Dad, can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure," he said as he stood up. The two of them went into his office. "What is it?"

"Dean, the man who just stopped by, told me something interesting," Maia stated. "He told me about how you and my mom met. So, my question is, if you knew what she did for a living, then why didn't you turn her into the feds?"

Bruce sat there in his chair, thinking over her words. "I tried to find that out the whole time I knew her, but I loved her, I really did. If keeping her safe meant keeping her from the feds, then yes. I never turned her in." He looked at his daughter. "What did he tell you?"

"Just that the two of you met at one of her cases."

"That's always how she described them," Bruce remembered with a smile. "If you want to know more about your mom, I'd be more than happy to fill in some details, you know."

"I know, I just--Thank you." With that, she left the office.

The rest of the day was quite relaxing. They all thought they’d hang out by the pool. The boys were all in the pool. Cass was just getting in, Barbara, who can stand now just jumped off the diving board. Steph and Maia were both relaxing on pool chairs. It was super sunny out so most everyone wore sunglasses.

All of a sudden, Steph seemed like she had an idea. Looking over to her, Maia said, “Whatever you’re planning, I’m not interested.”

“Aww, come on, it would be the best picture ever,” the blonde tried to plead her case. 

The half Filipina sighed. “Okay, I might be interested to know what it is, I just don’t want to be involved in it.”

“Fine, suit yourself,” she got up and called for everyone to get out of the pool. Once they did, she told everyone to jump back in. After some questioning, she directed Tim, Damian, Dick, and Tim to jump in sideways while Cass and Barbara, who were jumping from the other edge of the pool jumped in forward. The picture was taken, and honestly, it looked pretty damn good.

“Hey, Maia, why don’t you get in?” Jason asked, getting out of the pool and walking towards her.

“Never really liked the pool or the ocean,” she replied, looking up from her copy of the book _The Pelican Brief._

“You’re telling me, that you’ve never gone into this pool?” he questioned as he stepped even closer. “Come on, it’ll be fun,” the man tried to convince her, pulling her to her feet. Maia placed her book down.

She looked at it and then back at her older adopted brother. “Hmmmmm, not today.”

There was a small moment of silence before Jason realized. “Oh, right, that weird dream,” he remembered. Her nightmare that they saw in the cave. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m gonna go.” Everyone just left it at that.


	17. Dear Evan Hansen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maia gets Jason to try out for a musical. This is the result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.s. -spoilers for the musical. Don’t read if you haven’t already seen, listened to or don’t care about spoilers.

One Saturday, while Bruce, Maia, and Damian were all having breakfast at the manor, Dick burst in. “Guy!” He said excitedly. “You won’t believe what I found on YouTube.”

“And what might that be?” Maia questioned, looking up from her fruit bowl.

“You,” he answered simply.

“Me?” She questioned. Grayson got out his laptop from his backpack and got onto the video website.

He clicked on a video entitled, Into The Woods - Full Performance - Lewis & Clark Theatre. It was two hours and thirty-five minutes long.

“Ah, I see,” she responded simply. She remembers doing this in college. College musicals were fun.

“What’s this?” Damian questioned.

“A musical,” Dick responded whimsically. “Specifically, a musical in which our dearest Maia stared in.”

“Really?” Damian asked, not believing that his classical-music-social-science oriented sister would be into this sort of thing.

Bruce said nothing as the video played out. It turned out that in this big mix of fairy tales, Maia was playing the part Cinderella.

Once the video reached the halfway point, Bruce paused it. “Alright guys, this is great and all, but I still have work to do.”

His kids, who were engrossed in the video peered at him with near astonishment. “But dad,” Damian and Dick stayed simultaneously.

“Relax, I’ll watch it later.” He then stopped and patted his daughter on the head once. “Good job,” he stated before walking away.

Over the course of the week, more and more members of the family saw the video and sought out more of her musicals on YouTube.

A few weeks after, Maia and Jason seemed to be more and more frequently going off the radar at the same time. The family thought that they were using Maia’s non-GPS car to get around while only having their phones on at their houses. They thought that the two might be dating, but that seemed highly unlikely as Maia has a girlfriend, and she’s not the kind of person to cheat.

When the pattern continued for three months, they finally had them sit down to talk. 

“What’s this about?” Maia asked them. She and Jason sat right next to each other. Both their arms were crossed.

“Well, for starters, you both have been turning your GPS off at roughly the same time.”

“Well, you see, I would tell you, but I am sworn to secrecy and I intend to keep my promise,” Maia answered the question.

“Jason?” Dick asked, to see if he’d answer.

“Not saying a word,” the man stated.

All of a sudden, Maia looked at her watch. “Shit. Jaybird we’re late.” She just got off her chair and took her purse. “Let’s _go_ , Jason,” she urged. Quickly, the man followed. 

“Should we follow them?” Tim asked, turning to Bruce.

“Not today,” he answered.

A week later, Maia showed up with tickets for a musical. She handed them to Bruce. There were seven of them.

“What’s this?” He asked.

Knowing that he knew he was asking a dumb question, Maia explained, “A friend from work managed to get their hands on these and asked if any of us wanted to take them since they and their family can’t go. I said I would pass them along to you. I don’t really want to go. I asked Jason and he said he didn’t really want to go. So…” she trailed off.

“Sure, yeah, alright, I’ll ask them.”

She was about to leave the kitchen when she just remembered, “I know you like to know what you’re going into, but for this, try to surprise yourself.”

Ten days later, Bruce, Dick, Tim, Damian, Steph, Cass, and Barbara went to the State Theatre in New Jersey. None of them had any idea what they were walking into. The tickets Maia gave them were for the first box. A lady offered them a playbill. Dick, Barbara, Steph, and Tim were the only ones to grab them. Suspecting that Maia and Jason had a hand in this production, he brought flowers to bring to both of them.

As they flipped through it, they noticed some familiar names and faces. Maia Petilos and Jason Todd. Although they saw his face, he is operating under an alias as Jason Todd is still legally dead. Maia’s bio stated, A delight to have on stage, she is excited to debut in New Jersey. She has been in many musicals at her college such as Annie Get Your Gun, Oliver!, The Sound of Music, Into The Woods, and 21 Chump Street, all as the supporting or leading lady! All while getting a double major in psychology and anthropology with a double minor in music and linguistics at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Oregon. Musicals in Los Angeles include Wizard of Oz, Anything Goes, Head Over Heels, and Beauty and the Beast.

Surprisingly enough, Jason Todd’s alias didn’t have a bio.

They had to admit, the set of the stage was kind of strange. Projections showed different pages of social media. That is until they all turned red and told everyone to silence and turn off their phones before the show starts.

It started as a guy, looking to maybe be in his senior year of high school. He’s on his computer. His mom comes up to him. His name is Evan. She asks him if he’s ready for his last year of school. She also asks him about the letters to himself he was supposed to write. The bat kids immediately peg him as having social anxiety. He also has a cast on his arm. The mom suggests making a new friend by asking them to sign a cast before going into song. (“Anybody Have a Map?”). The floor shifts and the scene switches to a kitchen table.

A father, most likely rich, and his wife, along with their kids, who the Wayne’s immediately recognize as Jason and Maia. The mom discusses that Jason shouldn’t skip out on his first day of school. The dad says that he’s probably high. Maia’s character agrees with her father saying, “He’s definitely high.” The mom scolds her son saying that she doesn’t want him to go to school high. Jason’s character, Connor, replies saying that that’s perfect, he can’t go. The mom then gets into the same tune as the other mom. As she sings, her family keeps talking. That stops when Maia’s character states, “If Connor’s not ready, I’m leaving without him.”

The two moms then join each other in the song without making it seem as though they’re in the same room while still sharing the stage.

During school, The main character, Evan, runs into two characters. His “family friend” and peer Jared, and Alana, a precocious, but self-absorbed student. They ask about his arm and he tells them that he fell out of a tree. Neither of them signs his cast. Then, Evan runs into Connor. Jason’s character makes fun of him for his awkwardness and pushes him to the ground. His sister, Maia’s character (who is introduced to the audience as Zoe) helps him up and apologizes for her brother’s behavior before walking off. Evans is left to wonder if he is destined to be an outcast, singing, (“Waving Through a Window.”) He sings about being an outcast, waiting for something to be different. Lyrics that jumped out particularly to Tim were: “Step out, step out of the sun if you keep getting burned. Step out, step out of the sun because you’ve learned.” And “When you’re falling in a forest, and there’s nobody around, do you ever really fall? Or even make a sound?”

In the next scene, Evan writes the letter to himself he promised his mom he would write in the computer lab. He wonders if anyone would notice if he was there or not. Evan then writes about his crush on Zoe and how this day is going to be a good day because of Zoe, and that all his hope is pinned on Zoe. Then, (“Waving Through a Window” ( Reprise)). Connor comes up to him and offers to sign his cast. He does it in big letters. The student then finds Evan’s letter on the printer and reads it. Becoming furious at the mention of his little sister, and thinking that Evan intended for him to see the letter in order to make fun of him, takes the letter as he storms out of the room.

The next day, Evan is in an anxiety freak out, wondering what Connor could possibly do with the letter. He even talks to Jared online about it. Even is then called to the principal’s office where he meets Connor’s and Zoe’s parents for the first time. The mom is in tears as they explain to him that Connor committed suicide. They found what they thought to be a suicide note in his sweatshirt pocket, surprised that it was addressed to someone they’ve never even met before. The mom cries even more when she sees her son’s name on the cast. Evan tried to explain but the social anxiety kicked in and he ended up agreeing to go to their house for dinner. The student tells Hared about this who instructed him to just nod and confirm to avoid making things worse.

At the dinner, he tried to just nod and confirm, but the anxiety started again. He got nervous, awkward and uncomfortable. He starts telling lies. He tells them that he and Connor were best friends. He tells them that he and Connor had been emailing back and forth. The Murphy’s (that’s their last name) seem like they don’t suspect anything to be wrong as the father had been monitoring his son’s emails. Cynthia (the mom) and Zoe get into a fight. Evan then tells that they would hang out by the orchard, which the family reveals they would do all the time years ago before it shut down. He sings (“For Forever”). The actor sings it so well and makes it so believable that Steph starts silently tearing up.

When Evan gets home, his mom talks to him about the suicide and becomes worried when she sees the boy’s name on his cast. He explains that it was a different Connor.

Realizing that he needs evidence for Connor’s “secret email account,” he enlists the help of Jared, who knows how to make fake email accounts and back-date the emails. They sing (“Sincerely, Me”) with Connor coming back to be his own voice in the emails. Jared starts to write a good email but then things turn gay as he thinks that that’s what the direction things were going in. Evan then steps in, writing the letter for him. He types that he loves his parents but every day’s another fight. The fake Connor goes on to talk about not smoking crack and reinvention through rehab. Evan then writes a letter to Connor from him. The two then go into a duet about reinvention. Jared eventually jumps in. Bruce couldn’t help but think of all the times that he caught him smoking, or the fact that Jason’s mother was an addict.

The next day, Evan is over at the Murphy’s yet again for dinner. He turns over the emails for them to look at. Cynthia is ecstatic but says that it doesn’t sound like Connor. She tried to show Zoe the emails, but she refused and they fought again. After Evan leaves, Cynthia gives Zoe the letters to read. Zoe reveals to Evan that he would pound on her door and threaten to kill her. Connor was violent and abusive towards her. At least emotionally. Later that night, in her room, Maia’s character still refused to mourn him, singing the first part of (“Requiem”). She sings about how she can’t play the grieving sister. That is why she will not sing a requiem tonight. The father is the next singer of this song. He sings about how Connor left the family to be broken. How he gave him the world, but he threw it away. For that, he can sing no requiem. The mom is the third and final person to sing. She sings about how she finally finds him in these letters, so she will sing no requiem. The father and daughter do a duet in repeating “Why should I have a heavy heart?” Zoe’s alone when she sings, “Why should I say-“ but is joined by the mom in saying, “I’ll keep you with me.” But what really hit the Batfam was when they heard Maia sing the lyrics, “‘Cause when the villains fall the kingdoms never weep.” And “After all you’ve put me through, don’t say it wasn’t true! That you were not the _monster_ that I knew.”

In the next scene, Zoe and Evan are in Connor’s room. She asks him why Connor mentioned her in his note. Unable to tell Zoe the truth, he tells her how he loves her through the guise of Conner, singing (“If I could tell her”). Overcome with emotions, he kisses her, she pulls away and tells him to leave.

Back at school, Alana notices that people are starting to forget about Connor. Evan then imagines Connor and talks to him, singing, (“Disappear”). Evan goes to Alana and Jared to pitch The Connor Project idea, to keep his memory alive. They agree to it, singing that no one should be forgotten. The three of them pitch the idea to the Murphy’s who support it. Moved by the idea, Cynthia gives Evan Connor’s tie for him to look more formal during the assembly tomorrow.

The next scene is at the official launch of The Connor Project. Evan gives a speech and flips through cards but as he reads them, he starts to get more and more anxious. He goes back through his cards before freaking out for a little while until he sings about that one day in the orchard. The same day he sang about to the Murphy’s. Someone videotaped the speech and it goes viral. Zoe, overcome by the impact her brother and Evan had, she kissed him. (“You will be found”). Act one concludes.

As the intermission starts, Bruce got up and said, “Alright, I’m going to go find your siblings.” They all follow him.

The group went backstage to see Maia and Jason talking. Dick tried to sneak up on them but untimely failed. Jason got him into an armlock, which he had no problem getting out of. “Good job you too,” he says, hugging them. Maia accepts the hug, Jason just stands there awkwardly.

Steph and Babs were the next to greet them. Only the blonde admitted she was brought to tears.

Bruce walked up to them with everyone else in tow. “These are for both of you,” the billionaire states as he gives them both flowers. Maia smiled and thanked him while Jason just smiled.

“So,” Damian spoke, arms crossed. “I suspect it was Maia who brought you into this Jason?”

“Right you are, buddy,” Todd stated. “I made the wonderful mistake of telling her that she should audition for this. As you can tell, she dragged me into this. I was the one who didn’t want you guys to know.”

Maia looked at her phone and said, “You guys should probably head back to your sheets before the halls become flooded with people trying to get to their seats.”

“Smart,” said Tim before he went back. The others soon followed. All except Bruce.

The billionaire asked, “Was there a specific reason why you chose to audition for this?” He couldn’t help but think that there was one.

“Later, dad,” she said. That was that apparently.

Their father rejoined his kid in going back to their seats, ready and waiting for the second act to start.

—————

In the end, it all came crashing down on Evan. Zoe left him and everything fell apart because he couldn’t lie anymore. The Wayne family, watching in their booth, had definitely spilled a lot of tears while watching the entire thing. Even Damian, though he would never admit it.

Now, it was time for Bruce to collect his children and for everyone to go home.

Once there, they had a little celebration. She didn’t let that bother her though. After a while, Bruce asked, “So, why did you want to audition for this musical?”

“Because,” she said. “The storyline is so… it speaks truth. And it’s a damn good story.” She got up to go to her room and work on her computer. As she was about to go up the steps, she said, “Oh, and when you get the chance, go watch 21 Chump Street.”

“Wait, truth to what?” Duck called after her.

“You’re a detective, right? Figure that out yourself.”


	18. Maia the Hunter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a full fledged Supernatural chapter!

The morning after the last performance of Dear Evan Hansen, Maia found Tim studying a file. It had something to do with Scarecrow copycats trying to impress the real Scarecrow. They had ganked half a dozen citizens and three cops. She chose not to question her brother about them.

—————

Dick had gone back to Bludhaven just over six hours ago, he still has a seperate city to look after. The night was not yet dark enough for patrol. Maia hasn’t been back for at least three hours. Her brothers and father are beginning to worry. Jason and Tim left for their apartments shortly after Dick drove off, but a text from Bruce about their sister was beginning to set them on edge. Stephanie, Damian, Cass, and Barbara all promised to go look for Maia when the three hours became four.

In her Black Bat costume, Cassandra Cain approached a warehouse. She didn’t exactly know what it was, but something felt off about it. She opened the door, and the change was instant.

She knew that she must have been hallucinating, but they seemed so real. Her father and mother both say horrible things. She tried to tell them off, but they were persistent. Through her teary eyes, and distracted mind, she almost didn’t see the figure about to stab her with something attached to their wrist.

Black Bat took evasive maneuvers, fighting defensively towards the figure’s advances. But then, the figure became her father. Her horrible no-good father. Cass gave in to the urge to punch him, and was immediately taken down by him. Then he disappeared, and became that strange mysterious figure.

They were about to stab her with what she presumed to be a knife. She had her block ready, but she wasn’t ready for what happened next. Maia had stabbed them through the heart with a silver dagger. Steam came out of the wound.

——(four hours ago)——

Just as Maia entered her room, she received a phone call. The ringtone told her that it was Dean Winchester. “Hey, Dean, what’s up?”

“Wanna help me hunt down a wraith… or four?” He asked her.

“What happened to Sam and Castiel? And what about all those people from that weird Apocalypse-verse?” She asked as she pocketed the silver blades that she had in her room. She got them a while ago. Turns out there was a Hunter’s shop right here in town. The small symbol on the window was the secret tell tale sign. The store clerk brought her to the back and cash was exchanged. Maia ended up placing an entire weapon set under a false bottom in her trunk.

“Sam is doing a case-- actually, they’re all working on separate cases.”

“Oh, I see.” The young woman took one last look at her computer. She works as a child therapist here in Gotham, and one of the kids’ data sheets could use a little bit of an update. Just a small one though. Going for a hunt sounds funner. “Where should we meet?”

“You know what? Come to this motel. We’ll regroup from there.” He ended the call. She knows about the Micheal from the other universe possessing him for weeks. Sam made sure to tell her. He even asked if she’s seen him. She only told him that he came to see her months ago.

Maia took the phone away from her ear to find a text. The woman quickly memorized it and shut her phone off. She went downstairs and called out, “I’m going out!” and then left.

Once she arrived, she knocked on his door. “Dean? You in there? Open up.”

“Yeah, yeah, hang on a sec!” He called from inside. He opened the door and held a beer in the other hand. “Want a beer?” he asked. 

She glanced past him to see a six pack of the alcohol sitting on the table. The poor man probably wanted a break from figuring out what happened with the whole Micheal situation. “No thanks.” She stepped in and he closed the door behind her. “So, what’s this about four wraiths?”

“Well, you know the Scarecrow, right?”

She gave him a confused but sarcastic look. “Really? Trust me, he’s not a wraith.”

“I wasn’t gonna say that. I was gonna say that someone--some people are trying to impress him.”

“And, they’re the wraiths?” He nodded. “What proof do you have?”

He walked over to the nightstand to retrieve something wrapped in cloth and handed it to her. Maia unwrapped it to find a wraith spike. It still had blood stains on it. “Okay, gross.” The young woman wrapped it back up. She almost couldn’t believe it. Wraith. In Gotham. They’re trying to impress  _ The Scarecrow _ . 

The case file said that they’ve been luring victims in, and put something in the air that causes the brains to become soaked in dopamine and adrenaline, as well as a few unknown chemicals. All victims were stabbed in the back of the neck with a mysterious object. Their brains were half there and dried out. What the authorities don’t know, is that the thing in the air is a hallucinogen. The wraiths’ power.

“There’s this warehouse down by the pier,” Dean stated as he sat down on a chair. “I followed one of them to that spot. Not sure if they’re still there, but…”

“It’s worth a shot.”

__________

They went to the pier. Not surprisingly, the warehouse didn’t seem all that suspicious on the outside. Maia and Dean shared a look. When they went inside, suddenly, Maia was alone.  _ “Oh,” _ she thought.  _ “Either they’ve stepped up their game, or they’re some of Micheal’s wraiths.” _

“Help!” A little girl shouted. Maia tried not to go towards the sound. She knew it could be a wraith, or just her imagination. Probably a wraith though. The smell of smoke hit her nose. 

_ “So that’s their play,” _ she thought.  _ “Going after the time my house burned down in California… although technically that’s my play, since it’s my hallucination. Still though, not cool!” _

All of a sudden, some Cadmus agents came after her, They carried blasters. She evaded every single blast, silently wishing that her inhibitor chip was off or broken. She kept going on the offensive with them, striking them with the weapons she had on her. She could only land hits with her silver daggers on two of them. They were the ones she knew to be real, but they all looked the same.

What felt like an eternity later of her going through her own personal hell and trying to fight off monsters and bad guys, she finally landed a hit right through the heart of one of them. The hallucination weakened. Only one Cadmus agent was after her now. This time, she took the defensive approach. When he was close enough, she struck. 

The clouds in her mind cleared. She saw the warehouse. Dean was fighting one of them… and wait, is that Cass? She wondered. A woman in a bat costume was fighting a wraith… and losing. Quickly, Maia moved to strike the remaining wraith through the heart. Steam came out of the wound as the body fell to the ground.

“Cass, you okay?” Maia asked her. 

The woman signed back, *What’s going on?*

“Long story short, wraiths. I’ll tell you all about it at the mansion, yeah?” She nodded. Before she was completely out of the window, she said, “But don’t tell the others okay?” Cass gave a wave to respond. Whether or not it was a yes or no wasn’t clear to Maia.

The hunters watched the vigilante go back into the city before heading back to the motel. Once there, Maia asked, “Can I have the wraith spike?”

He gave her a weird look. “I thought you said it was gross.”

“Yeah, but I want to have it.”

He thought for a small moment. “Okay,” he said as he handed her the spike wrapped in cloth. She pocketed the hunting souvenir. 

She is in so much trouble. The young woman was about to take off when she asked, “Hey, can you give me a ride back to the manor?”

“Sure.”

When they drove up, Maia told him the code for the door so that they wouldn’t have to talk to Alfred. If they did, then everyone will come rushing to the door before she’s even there. They’ll ask too many questions. Once they rolled up to the steps, they found that her father was sitting on the steps, his head held up by his hands.

“Bye,” Maia said quietly as she stepped out of the car. 

“Bye,” said Dean before he drove away.

She walked up two steps in front of her dad who asked, “Where were you?”

“I was out hunting with Dean,” she told him. The young woman got farther up the steps before stopping again and saying, “The Scarecrow copycats have been dealt with. They were wraiths.” He didn’t try to stop her as she walked through the door.

Cass waited for her in the kitchen. Some of Alfred’s cookies were out on the counter. By the smell of the room, they were freshly made. The two women sat on the chairs of the island and ate them.

Wanting to talk, Cass set her cookie down on a napkin before signing, *So, what was that?*

Maia decided to sign instead of speak. She had to fingerspell a certain word though. *They are called Wraiths. They’re supernatural monsters with these little spikes that come out of their wrists.* she showed her the spike wrapped in cloth. *They have the ability to give you hallucinations. Something about the extra dopamine and the adrenaline makes our brains really tasty to them. Anyway, they take the spike and they typically stab their victims in the back of the neck, where the spike pierces the skull, allowing them to suck the brain out.*

Almost shocked, Cass asked, *How do we kill it?*

*You have to stab them in the heart with a blade made of silver. Or decapitate them.*

She nodded. *How long have you been doing this? Hunting them?*

Maia switched to speaking. “Only for a couple of weeks. I started on vampires. Those are freaky. Their fangs are retractable, and they have a completely normal set of teeth under them. They’ve got heightened senses. And they’re not affected by garlic or silver or wooden stakes. They don’t die when exposed to the sun either. At most they’d just get a nasty sunburn. But, the only way to really kill them, like really really kill them is decapitation.” The woman then ate a cookie. “There’s loads more too, like, wendigos, werewolves, Sirens, changelings, Rugarus—those are really freaking nasty. Ghouls, ghosts, lamia, banshees, loads of others too.”

*Can you take me on a hunt sometime?*

Maia smiled brightly. *Of course! I’d love to!* She then looked at the time. *Oof, well, I have to get to bed. I have an early session tomorrow.*

Cass waved goodbye. On her way up the steps, Maia texted the group chat. ^Don’t need to worry everyone. I’m okay. I’m home.^

She decided to turn her phone off so that the continuous buzzes on her phone didn’t go off.


	19. Put a Little Love in Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian follows Maia to an unexpected place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter nineteen!!

It wasn’t uncommon for Damian, Bruce, Alfred, and anyone else living in the manor to hear the pleasant sounds of Maia’s piano or cello being played. Most days it’s classical pieces. Sometimes, she plays instrumentals of songs that she came up with on the spot. She knows their melody and the music behind it well enough that she can just do that.

She does have a minor in music, along with a minor in linguistics and double major in psychology and anthropology. Anyway… the one thing that they rarely ever hear is her singing.

It was the afternoon when Damian came home from school when he heard her. She was providing female backup vocals while playing the piano, jamming with a guy on her FaceTime who played guitar and sang the actual lyrics. They sounded amazing together. 

Then when they finished playing, the man on the phone said, “Thanks, I knew I was missing something.”

“You’re welcome,” Maia stated. “Anything to help a friend out.” They waved to each other and said their goodbyes. 

Just as Maia was getting up from the bench, Damian spoke, “Your voice is really pretty.” 

She jumped in fright, not realizing that the youngest Wayne child was present. The young woman spun around and asked, “Damian, how long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” he replied. It’s been weeks since she disappeared and reappeared without an explanation. The only person she ever seems to talk about it is Cassandra, even though, by now, she’s gone back to China. Her little brother wanted to ask Maia where she went, but he knew that she wouldn’t y’all about it with him. He found it deeply concerning.

“Well, thanks, Damian.” With that, she walked off.

Before dinner though, he noticed that she was back at her instruments, playing and singing. It was as if she was practicing for something big. She slipped out after their meal, saying that she had a party to go to. Damian couldn’t help but wonder if that was what she was preparing for. Much to his confusion, he followed her to the hospital. Jason and Tim were with her as well.

—————

Maia met Tim and Jason there as she planned. The three of them had signed up for this event created by someone in the community for the people in the AIDS ward. A little concert to boost their spirits.

_ Maia only heard about it a week ago. She was there visiting one of her clients, (She’s a therapist {works mostly with kids}) who had the virus. He was young, and his parents cast him out on the streets because he was gay. He eventually found somewhere to live that wasn’t the piers, but he sought therapy which Maia provided. _

_ That’s where she saw the sign-up sheet for the event. She didn’t even hesitate. As she walked past another hallway, though, she couldn’t help but hear Jason’s voice. “What’s the verdict baby bird?”  _

_ She froze and turned to look down the hallway. There stood Jason Todd holding hands with Tim Drake. They faced each other. Their body language suggested they felt really comfortable about being close together. Tim started to say something, but it was drowned out by Maia. _

_ “Tim? Jason? What are you doing here?” She asked loudly, briskly walking up to them. They froze and stared at her. Maia knew it was a dumb question, but she wanted to hear their answers. _

_ Jason’s hands quickly shied away from Tim’s. The older bird began running his neck. “Oh, Uh, well-“ _

_ He was cut off by Tim. “We’re dating,” he said bluntly. “We’re dating, and we had unprotected sex, so now we’re checking.” _

_ Maia nodded. “Thought so,” she said. They gave her shocked expressions. “But I just wanted to make sure.” Silence hung around for a little bit. “So, what is the verdict?” _

_ “I’m negative,” Jay stated.  _

_ They turned to the middle child who said, “Yeah, I’m negative.” _

_ “Yes!” The bad bird could barely contain his excitement. He embraced his partner tightly. Jaybird then turned to their sister. “So, why are you here, huh?” _

_ “One of my patience has it,” she said. “I’m participating in this week's concert to boost their spirits. Wanna sign up with me?” They gave her unsure looks. “Oh, come on, Jason, you did so well in the musical. Come on, help me out. We’d be singing the same song.” _

_ He sighed. “Okay, where's this sheet?” _

_ Maia beamed as she led them both to the sign up sheet for the concert. Jason signed up, but Tim didn’t, saying he’ll watch instead.  _

_ As the three of them exited the hospital together, they couldn’t help but notice Maia’s smiling. “What?” They both asked her. _

_ “I’m just happy for you both,” she told them. _

_ “Thanks sis,” Tim said as he hugged her. _

_ “Hey let’s go get something to celebrate yeah?” She asked. _

_ “I don’t see why not,” Jason responded. They ended up getting themselves ice cream. _

Long story short, the three of them made it just in the nick of time. The concert was about to start and they were the second act. Once the first act was done, they bowed and left the music space. 

Maia took the piano, and a mic. Jason stood in front of another one. Her hands floated over the keys to produce the starting chords. They sang a duet version of Put a Little Love in Your Heart. When the beat of the song allowed for it, the audience clapped along. They released big notes. Everyone was smiling, enjoying their song. Once it was over, they bowed and the audience cheered. The duo reclaimed their seats next to Tim and enjoyed the rest of the show.

When the festivities were done with, that’s when they saw Damian in the back of the crowd. His back was up against the wall and his arms were crossed. The teen’s eyes studied the floor.

Maia decided to approach him. “Hey there little bird? What are you doing so far away from the nest?”

His eyes shot up to peer at her, as if he hadn’t expected them to notice him. “I followed you,” he stated. “I wanted to know why you were practicing a lot on your piano today and singing.”

She smiled and asked, “You know you could have just asked, right? I wasn’t being  _ that _ secretive, was I?”

He glanced away for a moment. “No, you weren’t.” Tim and Jason walked towards them.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Dami. How about you three hitch a ride in my car. We’ll drop off Jason and Tim at their place, deal?”

“Deal,” the three boys said. The three older siblings tried not to think about how the little demon spawn didn’t react to her saying ‘place’ and not ‘apartments.’

The car ride was silent, but not awkward. Tim’s head was leaning against Jason’s shoulder in an increasingly cute way. Damian kept his eyes trained on what happened outside his window in the front passenger seat while Maia drove.

Maia said goodbye to the happy couple as they got out of her car. Damian said nothing. As the two of them drove back to the manor, Maia said, “You’re quiet, Dami. Anything going on that you want to talk about?”

“Not really,” he stated. He sounded unsure though, but Maia decided not to press.

“Okay.” 

They arrived home a few minutes later. Alfred met them at the door of the massive garage. As he swept, he said, “Ah, there you are, Master Damian. Miss Maia how was the party?”

“It was wonderful, Alfred,” she said with a smile.

She went to bed thinking about Valery and her hero work. Her girlfriend said she was going to retire from it soon, but everyone knows no one really retires from hero work. No one really escapes the life of a hunter either, but still, it’d be nice to just live and not have to worry about anything else.


	20. Aiding the Voiceless

Being voiceless means that one can not speak. They can’t speak with the clients they are given, only wave, nod, and use their body (especially their eyes) for seduction. High paying clients prefer the voiceless because the surgical removal of vocal cords makes them unable to scream, beg, and most of all, speak nothing of the goings on. Tell no one of how they were kidnapped right off the streets and trained to be whores. 

But let’s say, for a moment, that two of them, a girl and a boy managed to escape the mafia's clutches. Let’s say for a moment that one of them managed to get her way into Maia’s office while the other one holes up in the alley right outside, injured as hell.

The receptionist told the second to youngest of the Wayne’s that this girl, at least, preferred to speak via notepad. Maia was patient with the girl, sitting through it as she wrote down all the atrocities that happened to her and her friend. Maia immediately ran outside to let the boy in. Both of them were in their late teens. She told them that they were welcomed to stay with her, and if they wished, they could talk with the police.

The two of them went along with it. Little did they realize that the kind woman who offered hospitality to them with open arms had connections in such high places. Their eyes lit up with wonder as pulled up into the driveway of Wayne Manor.

“Alfred!” She called as she opened the door, holding it for the two victims. He came from the music room with a duster.

“Yes, Miss Maia?” The British butler asked.

“Can you get these two settled in a room preferably close to mine?” She asked him. “They’ve been through a lot.” She then went up to him and whispered, “Don’t expect them to talk.”

Alfred nodded and led the two of them up the stairs. Knowing that her father would be home, she went right to his study. The young woman knocked on the door. “Come in,” said Bruce.

“Hey, Dad,” she greeted in a neutral tone, walking into the room. “Listen, I’ve told Alfred to get two guests of mine settled in. They’re patients of mine who have no protection, and with what they’ve been through, they definitely need it.” Before she exited the room she added, “Oh, and Commisioner Gordon may or may not be making an appearance.” Her father asked nothing, knowing how strict she was with the patient-therapist agreement stating that unless they wished, she cannot speak of their sessions to anyone.

Maia told Damian the same thing when he got home from school.

—————

That night, she went up to the room to the left of her own. Alfred told her that they did not wish to be separated. They didn’t come down for dinner, opting to eat it in their room. 

After the meal, the young woman knocked on the door, saying, “I’m coming in.” Maia opened the door to see them cuddling on the bed. She smiled. “So, how are you feeling?” 

They looked at each other. The boy shrugged and did the so-so hand gesture. Petilos nodded. “That’s alright,” she told them. “If either of you have any nightmares, or PTSD, don’t hesitate to get me. My room is right next to yours on your right. Okay?”

The twenty-two-year-old went into her own room and grabbed her charging computer from her desk. She then laid down on her stomach on the bed with the laptop in front of her. The woman brought out her notebook and placed it beside her. Maia opened a new patient document and began typing.

Names: Jack Mulligan and Molly Barron.

Genders: Jack: Male; Molly: Female.

Ages: Fifteen

Reason for coming in: Jack and Molly were both kidnapped off the streets in different parts of New England. They claim to have been taken by the mafia. There, a black market surgeon removed their vocal cords. Jack was extremely saddened by this as he used to sing. After their vocal cords were removed, they were given new names which we will not use for the betterment of their health. Then, they were taken to a brothel and trained to be sex workers. They were both trained to use their body language for seduction. They had three clients before they escaped two days ago. Both experience PTSD. Molly has gotten a lot angrier while Jack seems so still. They are willing to speak to the police. 

She’ll ask both of them tomorrow if they want to know sign language, but she can read lips easily enough. Maybe getting them in touch with Cassandra would be a good idea. Maia’s adopted sister was in Singapore right now. It’s been six weeks since Cass was in Gotham.

————

The next day, she found Jack at the piano. He was trying to play something for Molly, who was sitting in a chair by the wall. Milligan’s hands seemed to tremble. Every time he messed up, he’d start again. At one point, he just got frustrated and struck a harsh chord on the low notes. 

“Hey,” Maia said softly. Both of them turned towards her and stood up, shocked. “It’s alright,” she told them. “You’re allowed to be here.” Relieved, they sat back down. Maia stepped forward. “I recognize the song you’re playing. Would you mind if I tried to help you? We could do it like a duet.” Jack nodded and scooched to the right of the bench. The two of them began playing. Maia concentrated on the bass clef notes while he concentrated on the treble clef. 

When he made a mistake again, she told him, “It’s alright if you don’t get it perfectly, you know. You don’t have to stop when you make a mistake.”

‘But it needs to be perfect,’ Jack mouthed at her. 

“Why?” She questioned.

‘My mother taught it to me.’

“Ah, I see.” A pause. “What did she ever tell you when you messed up?”

‘It was okay.’

“But you want it to be perfect?” He nodded. “Where is she now? Would you like for me to contact her?” He shook his head.

‘She’s dead.’

“Oh, okay. Is there anyone else?” He shook his head. “Okay.” Maia then turned to Molly. “Molly, is there anyone who I should contact about your whereabouts?” She nodded. “And where do they live?”

‘Metropolis,’ she mouthed.

“Good. And relation?”

‘Entire family.’

“Good. Do you feel like you can heal with them around?” She nodded. “Okay. When would you like me to contact them?”

‘After we speak with the commissioner.’

“You got it.” She thought about things for a moment before facing Jack again. “How about you don’t think of it as making a mistake.” Mulligan peered at her with a confused expression. “Think of it as making up a new version.”

He glanced at the keyboard, thinking it over. Then, he nodded. The two began playing. There was a slight pause whenever he’d make a mistake, but he’d soon continue playing.

—————

The next day, Commissioner Gordon and a female officer traveled to the mansion. They met Maia and her patients in the drawing room. The three of them were already sitting down when the officers arrived. Maia stood. “Ah, Miss Wayne,” said the Commissioner. He walked over to her and shook his hand. “Thank you for reaching out to us.” He then looked at the two teenagers. “Are they them?”

Maia nodded. “This is Jack Mulligan, and Molly Barron.”

The interview commenced. The two teenagers told them everything they told Maia. The therapist watched the officer’s faces. They tried not to react to what the kids were telling them, the female officer especially. She was new to the force. The Commissioner brought her here for her to gain experience.

Once it was over, Maia rushed to Gordon before he could leave, asking in a low voice. “Will you be contacting Batman about this?”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Not sure how you know that but yes… unless you think that isn’t the right call.”

“Oh no,” said Maia. “Contact him, please.”

“Will do, Miss Wayne,” he said as he put his coat back on. “Will do.”

—————

Two days after that, Maia drove Molly and Jack to Molly’s parents’ house in Metropolis. They were ecstatic to see their child home again. Their happy faces soon turned to concern when Maia told them everything. 

She then got in touch with Clark Kent and told him all about it, but she also said to not give up any of the victims names or her own. She also told him to gather more facts after Gotham PD and Batman take out the mafia.

Which they did. The entire organization is ~~dead~~ defeated. The voiceless would be safe, although the family would still have to take extra care.

Three days later, almost the entire news media world buzzed alive trying to catch the story. They all wanted to know who was who. Clark really did do a good job of leaving names out.

The morning the paper came out, Maia heard a knock on her door. “Come in.”

Her father stepped in and said, “Good job.” He meant to say it not only as a father to a daughter, but as a hero to a citizen.

She smiled, saying, “You too.”


	21. Dead friends, bloody heads, and bloody bodies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, I’m still deciding on whether or not to just end it at this chapter and make another fic, or keep the story going with this one.

Maia, Damian, and their father Bruce were all having breakfast together. Things were fine until her phone started ringing. The woman picked up the phone and answered. “Yes, Leo?” Abruptly she stood. “What?!” Tears began to cascade down her face. “And you're sure? She-.” Maia covered her mouth. “Okay, yeah, I’ll fly over today.” 

After she hung up the phone, she sighed, and said, “I’m going to buy a last minute plane ticket to LA.” Then, the woman walked away from the table in a stupor of gloom. The brother and father shared a look of concern. They noticed how she left the house only wearing black.

______

Once she got to LAX, she got a rental car and drove to her old house. Since Leo, Ichigo, Valery, and herself moved out, there was no one really tying her to this house. Well, maybe except for her foster father and Rae. The foster mother had passed, and every other foster child was new to her. That didn’t mean she wasn’t eager to learn their names, but she wasn’t here to see them. 

“How are you feeling?” Mr. Lyon-Smith meant well, of course, but Maia didn’t answer him. Tears cascaded down her face. One of the new children, a boy, peered at her with curiosity. He wondered how someone could be so sad. He had never seen anyone with this degree of emotion before.

Together and wordlessly, Rae, the foster parent and Maia drove down to the beach. The young woman had missed the cremation. Leo told her it was because they didn’t know if she could take it. The two of them had been together for so long. At SurfRider Beach, they will throw a part of her ashes into the water. 

Maia stared into the water as if in a daze.

_ “Come on, Maia!” The winged teen giggled. She wore a full swimsuit that covered her entire body. Discounting her shins, lower arms and neck of course. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the ocean.” Valery was already in the water. The two of them were only there because they knew going to Manhattan Beach would give them too much traffic. _

_ Petilos was still staring at the powerful wave that was only forming a few feet away from shore. They were bigger than she thought they would be. “Wouldn’t you? Since you’re the ones who have wings?” _

_ “Not really. Come on!” It wasn’t until movement stopped that the telekinetic realized she was on her friends back. Valery’s wings kept her up through the suit. _

_ “What are you doing?” The Filipina asked.  _

_ Valery turned her head in an attempt to look at her. “Why, taking you into the ocean myself, of course.” She began to sprint into the water, ignoring the telekinetic’s protests. _

The Outsiders would throw parts of her ashes in the garden surrounding the tower. Valery was a great hero, after all. She lived as a hero and she died as a hero, protecting people.

_ “Come on, we can make it!” Valery whisper-yelled. She, Maia, and Layla  _ (a girl neither of them had seen since the three of them escaped)  _ rounded a corner of the Cadmus facility. The three of them had already knocked out/killed most of the agents there. Now, the gigantic metal doors were getting smaller and smaller.  _

Maia wondered if she might ever be happy again. Could she even go on without knowing that her partner wasn’t still alive? They had been through so much together. They survived and escaped Cadmus, they stayed together all throughout Maia’s time in the foster home. They became a couple while Valery was an Outsider, and Maia a college student. They made the long distance thing work. Being here was almost unbearable. 

__________

Everyone came to the Manor for dinner. Steph, Cass, Babs, and all the rest. To be honest though, they only gathered to support Maia. She knew this, but no one phrased it like that. Everyone was having a good time catching up with each other. 

They were in the middle of their meal when someone walked into the dining room. “Well, this is grand isn’t it?” A man in a brown leather jacket and black hair stood at the entryway.

All the vigilantes paused, getting ready for a possible fight.

“It almost seems too grand for a woman like you,” he said.

Maia, who was still eating asked, “Yeah? Why?” Her eyes were near emotionless. They still held the distraughtness she felt around twenty hours earlier. Playing Chopin on her piano did little to ease her heart.

The eldest brother peered at her confused. “Maia, you know this person?” Dick questioned.

“She does,” answered the man. “With all your gallivanting about, I’m surprised that you hang out with a crowd such as this.”

“What can I say?” She took a bite of her food and swallowed. “I’m a chameleon.”

“That you are. You even fooled my nest.” The man took a few steps forward.

“So that’s why you’re here,” Maia figured. She kept her main focus on her food for a moment. “Revenge?” Finally, the young woman looked at him. She stole a glance at Cass who stared right back at her. The two of them  _ had _ taken down a nest of vampires two months ago.

Liam chuckled and glanced down at the floor for a bit. “Of course. You killed all of my friends and family. fooled us all and decapitated everyone. Left me to fend for myself.”

She sighed. With a bitter look on her face, she took a sip of her drink. “Cassandra and I left you alive because, well, you  _ are _ a dhampir. You're a halfling. You didn’t know whether or not to act human and escape, or become a monstrous vampire.”

“I would have thought you were above pity.”

“There is no way you can prove that, Liam.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. I have Micheal’s grace in me. I can-“

“Even if you are impervious to dead man’s blood,” she interrupted, facing him. “You can still be decapitated. And unlike my family, I will not hesitate to kill you.” 

Damian wondered if the pit of loss and loneliness she felt influenced her rescissions in this moment. 

“Oh, you see, but I’ve brought friends.” 

At least a dozen vampires and werewolves stormed the building. “Cassandra!” Maia called. Her sister nodded. Both of them jumped into action. “Remember, silver won’t kill these ones, only decapitation.” With another nod, the two began to engage the enemy. The vampires simply came at them with their own blades, while the werewolves bared their fangs and claws. The rest of the family watched as the girls swiftly decapitated the monsters in between defensive and offensive moves being shot back and forth. Finally, Maia had Liam pinned to the wall. “It’s over, Alucard.” He stared at her in hatred. The woman cut his head clean off.

The two of them exhaled in relief. Then, Maia smiled. “Micheal’s grace my ass,” she muttered. Cass smiled as if she were laughing.

After a few seconds, Jason asked, “Okay, what the hell was that?” 

“Remember those hunting trips Cass and I go on when she comes here for a visit?” His sister questioned. The others nodded.

*Well,* Cass signed. *We don’t hunt animals. We hunt monsters.*

“I’m sorry, for…” Maia gestured behind her. “Well, that.”

“How come you never told me you had such amazing dagger skills?” Damian questioned.

The two of them shrugged. “Never came up.”

*We should clean this up.* Her half Filipina sister nodded.

“Alfred, don’t worry about cleaning this mess up,” Maia told him. “We’ll do it.”

After they cleaned the mess that was bloody heads and bloody bodies, they all reconvened in the library.

“He mentioned something called Micheal’s grace,” remembered Tim. “He didn’t mean…”

“Yes, Timmy,” Maia stated. “He did mean the Archangel Michael. Angels exist, and so do demons. Just about every other monster exists actually.” She paused for a few seconds. “You remember those Scarecrow copycats?” 

“Yeah?” said Dick, confused as to why she would bring that up.

“They were wraiths. But anyway…” The two female hunters told them the story of Apocalypse World, and how the Micheal from that universe wants to take over this one. “I don’t want anyone else involved with this. I need you guys getting the criminals. Let me handle the monsters.”

Jason, who leaned against the table, didn’t hesitate to answer. “I mean, if you can handle the threat perfectly fine, then sure,” He reasoned. 

Maia nodded and left for her room. One thing’s for sure. If she wants to participate in this war, and if she wants her family to be safe from the monsters, she’ll have to leave.

And that’s exactly what she did. She took her car with the false trunk bottom and everything; all her weapons, a lot of clothes, and her phone (though she turned it off as soon as she got to the garage).

Well, if Valery died protecting people, then why not follow her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this was a bit drastic, but people do be like that sometimes.


	22. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it guys. It's the final fucking chapter

It had been months since Maia ran off on her own. Her family tried to search for her, but came up empty. She didn’t contact them at all. Not even when Micheal was finally defeated. Cass had gone over to visit Sam and Dean Winchester’s bunker, just to see if she was there.

When she was, she found her and Sam sitting at the table, researching something. 

“Hey, Cassandra,” Sam greeted her, making Maia’s head snap up. The woman gave him a smile as he returned to his reading.

*Maia?* she signed, walking up to them. *What are you doing here? Micheal was defeated, right?*

Maia sighed, signing, *Yes, he is, but there’s still some loose ends that I need to tie up.*

*Like what?* Cass took a step forward.

*Jack may or may not have a soul.*

*Oh.* She frowned. *Wait, what happened?*

*Micheal and his forces were defeated by Jack, and in doing so, he burned up his soul, but regained his angel mojo.* Her face lit up dimly as she remembered something. *So, he may or may not have a soul.*

Cass’s eyes widened. *He did what?!* Maia nodded. *Okay, but everyone’s really worried about you. I think you should come home.*

*I can’t.*

*Why not?*

*Because I promised the Winchesters that I would help them.*

Cass looked as if she sighed. *Alright.*

Cass eventually left, promising (Per Maia’s request) that she would not tell the Wayne family or any of the other heroes where she was.

Of course, there were lots of reasons as to why she should go back. She has a job to get back to. An actual paying job that helps kids. Her family misses her, and might not be the same without her. Yet, even after all this time, she still needed to heal with the loss of Valery. She still went on cases with the Winchesters though, just to keep her mind off of well… everything. 

She and Dean even got to bond a little bit. He told her about her mom, even giving her her mother’s weapons, which he had stored in the bunker. She got to bond with Sam too, going on hunts with him.

Maia tried to help Jack, after she and Mary Winchester arrived at the scene of Nick’s death. Yet, she also knew that what Mary was trying to do wouldn’t work. Unfortunately, she was proven right when Jack killed her. He made her disappear. Made her body disappear. They had nothing to bury. She waited for Sam and Dean to drive over to her location before telling them everything. Then the funeral happened. 

Jack became desperate to undo his mistake, even kidnapping Rowena to bring Mary back, but it didn’t work. He only brought back a shell. Maia hated that the only idea that was really available was putting Jack in the box meant to keep Dean and Micheal inside. It worked, but then he escaped.

But when Jack made everyone stop lying, God stepped in. Yes, there is a God out there, and his name is Chuck. Plus, he brought with him a weapon that could kill Jack, but it would also kill the shooter. Dean drove out with the gun in his hands to find Jack and end this, but Sam wouldn’t allow it. Maia and Sam ended up driving to their location to try and stop him. Dean lowered the gun, even tossing it to the ground. Then Chuck got in the way, telling Dean to finish it. When he refused, he killed the kid himself, making his eyes and mouth glow like angels did when they were killed.

Then, Sam, angered at God’s words, picked up the gun and fired. It didn’t kill him though, the bullets went into their shoulders. In doing so, however, Chuck decided that it was The End. They all woke up during the night. God wasn’t in sight. Jack’s body lay on the ground with his wings making an imprint on the ground.

Then the rumbling started. Hell opened with a fire and souls flew out as if something was chasing them. Some though, jumped into the nearest bodies from the grave. They stalked towards the hunters. Blades in hand, Team Free Will fought and killed most of them. They then fled to a building nearby, locking them inside.

Once the zombies got through the building, Maia turned on her phone in hopes of reaching Tim. But then, she had another idea. She turned to Castiel, telling him that there was a small device in her arm -- she almost hated the idea, but she had to if any of them were going to get out of this -- Maia told him to get rid of it and heal her arm. He thought to question it, but didn’t. Then, she damn near destroyed the building. Bits and pieces of stone hit the zombies in various ways. Next, she forced the demons out of the bodies.

That was it, Maia decided. She was done. It was time to go home.

She went in the car with the rest of them back to the bunker and said her goodbyes. After that, she packed and drove home.

They were all waiting for her on the steps of the mansion. Getting out of the car, she asked, “What are you all doing here?”

“I would have thought that’d be obvious,” Damien muttered. 

“When you turned your phone on,” said Tim, walking towards her. “I thought about going after you, but then something told me not to. Not sure what though.” The two of them hugged.

“Well, I’m home now,” she told them, walking up to greet and hug the rest. “The Micheal threat is over, but we still need to worry about a few ghosts.”

“Eh, nothing you can’t handle,” Jason told her.

“Right,” she said as she moved to hug Dick and Steph. 

“I feel I must remind you that your dinner is getting cold,” Alfred informed the large group.

Maia gave them all a skeptic look. “You skipped dinner to welcome me home?”

“We didn’t  _ skip  _ dinner,” Steph told her.

“Yeah, it’s more like we put it on hold,” Dick agreed. That’s when she realized that they knew exactly when she would get home, made dinner and decided to wait for her anyway.

“Yeah, well, let’s eat, because I’m starving.”

“Excellent idea, Miss,” Alfred seconded as he opened the door for them. 

The night was filled with various story tellings from everyone. Worried looks, but mostly laughs ensued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading this fic!


End file.
